


A Home At The End Of The World

by loveyhowl



Category: The Borgias (2011)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-08-19 08:57:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8199047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveyhowl/pseuds/loveyhowl
Summary: My dear cool_cbear_g--this is for you...I hope that you like it.  Thank you, with all of my affection, for this story was inspired by you.<3
Cesare and Lucrezia have escaped Italy and the sure wrath of future Pope, Giuliano della Rovere; as they wait for the confirmed arrival of Micheletto Corella, Cesare dares to reveal a tantalizing secret to Lucrezia.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cool_cbear_g](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cool_cbear_g/gifts).



And so the "family Ramirez" held on in Santo Domingo, carefully navigating through the turbulence that stemmed from the troubling colonial politics of the time; they tended their cassava crop in earnest and only took on a handful more of servants to tend the field; and were far-kinder landowners than any of their hands had ever been used to experiencing.

Cesare was holding out specifically for the appearance of Micheletto; it had been almost a year since they'd separated, and Cesare figured that Micheletto had surely healed up by that time; had he gone on to his own life, finally, and delivered himself from the torment of his love for him? Cesare felt strongly, and most sadly for himself, that was indeed the case; still, he held out hope that he was wrong.

_And what if I am? What would I do? How would I explain myself to Lucrezia when I see the man and give in to my urge to kiss his lips as passionately as I kiss hers? Would she dare to understand? Would I dare to try and explain a thing that I almost do not understand, my own self?_

"Cesare?"

Cesare looked up from the papers strewn before him on the large dining table to see Lucrezia, just returned from a careful trip into town with Dorotea and Diego for the monthly supplies.

"Is something wrong, my love?" Lucrezia approached him with a frown of worry upon her beautiful face.

"No...no, my love—all is well..." Cesare rose up from the table to help her with the basket of goods that she was carrying. "The children are all napping and I've just been going over our books, that's all," he said of the mess of papers upon the table before he gave a kiss to her cheek.

"You had such a look on your face, my love..."

"Trouble yourself no more, my Lady—all is well." He gave another kiss of reassurance to the top of her head and began to put away the supplies as Dorotea and Diego entered the kitchen behind her; Lucrezia gave him her bright, relieved, and honest smile, which both settled and disturbed him, that he could lie so effortlessly—and convincingly—to her.

"We're still solvent, then?" joked Diego as he passed by with a fifty-pound sack of grain hoisted upon his shoulder, and headed for the pantry.

"That we are, brother," Cesare smiled broadly at his friend.

"With the necessary funds to away at a moments notice, then?"

"As always. But you have you heard something, Diego, while you were out? That would hasten that plan?"

"No, I'm happy to report; at least for now. The landowners meeting tomorrow night might yield more bearing on that, hmm?"

"Indeed, Diego." Cesare knew that Diego was hoping for as much for he wanted to leave Santo Domingo, and soon; for they all knew that the calm little spell they were experiencing was not one to become complacent with; however, Cesare could not, in good faith or with true heart, bear the idea of leaving without some word of his friend, or worse, that Micheletto should arrive only to find them gone.

Cesare did not speak to it, for it was a well-known and delicate subject—they all knew that the day was fast approaching that they should leave; and they all knew that Cesare was waiting for his Captain, and more—his friend.

"Well, I'm glad to have that all over with for the month—may I gather these up for you, Cesare, and file them away?"

"You may, my love, and thank you."

"Good. And then meet me on the veranda, and share some wine with me?"

Cesare smiled at his sister. "It would be my greatest pleasure."

Lucrezia beamed her most beautiful smile at him and then a knowing look at Dorotea, which intrigued Cesare enough to shoot a look of amused question at his sister; her only answer was a happy giggle when she looked back at him.

"And speaking of plots..." Cesare smiled up at Lucrezia when she came out to him with a tray bearing two goblets and a fine Chianti.

"Plots, my love?"

"Yes..." her took hold of her hand after she set the tray down, and jerked her playfully upon his lap, "...yes, plots—what was that look, sister, that you gave me after your conspiratorial one with our Dorotea, hmm?"

"Ahh...that look..." Lucrezia giggled. "Yes, my love, there is a plot—but I'm afraid that you will have to reveal it to me—after you read this..." Lucrezia produced a sealed parchment from her apron pocket and handed it to her brother with a wide smile upon her face.

Cesare looked at the seal and his mouth dropped open in happy surprise. "It's from—"

"Italy—yes my love! Open it!"

Cesare tore it open and found that it was from Micheletto, and already over a month old; he devoured the brief missive in seconds. "He's coming! From the date of this he should be here any day, now!"

"Yes, my love. And then we can all leave this place, as is your truest wish."

"Ha!" Cesare's guffaw at her was a triumphant one; Lucrezia gave him a happy kiss to his cheek, but Cesare's joyous moment was short-lived. _He must be close and we are on each others minds—why else would this veil of dread descend upon me? Especially on this day?_

"Cesare?" Lucrezia's smile was no more. "Cesare? What is it?"

"Sister—we must talk. Privately."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sis...I don't know where to begin..."

"Just begin with the truth, my love, for I was not fooled by your display in front of Dorotea and Diego downstairs earlier," Lucrezia closed their bedroom door quietly and gave her brother a sly smile as she turned to face him.

Cesare let out a little grunt at her, happy that his lie had, indeed, been transparent to her.

"Cesare—we must always have the truth between us; even if you think that it will anger or hurt me, for our truth—and our love—has always been my deliverance from my worst pain."

"I have often been the cause of your worst pain, Sis," Cesare admitted sadly.

"That is a lie—and we will not debate it any further, Cesare Borgia."

Cesare took his sister's hand and led her away from the door where others passing by could easily hear them; he led her to the sitting room beyond their bedroom suite. "I must come out with it, then, Sis—Micheletto arrives soon and you must know: we have had each other, Lucrezia; as I have had you; we have lain together—with nothing but sure love between us." Cesare looked into her eyes to read truest reaction, fearing that he would find disgust and betrayal in them and written upon her face; what he found was her calm countenance and then her hand upon his arm, giving a gentle squeeze of support as her eyes begged him silently to continue; tears came to his own as his face crumbled before her, but he could not look away from her.

"I am no sodomite, Lucrezia...but with Micheletto—I was a happy sodomite..." his choked little guffaw came at her borne of incredulity and shock; and the absurdity of it all.

"You love him. And he loves you. Why is this so shocking to you, brother?"

"Isn't it shocking to you, Sis?"

"We are the Unholy Borgias, Cesare; nothing shocks me anymore."

"Don't say that..."

"But we are...certainly to the world. And I don't care. Do you think, that after all that we have been through, Cesare, that I would sit here before you, now, and judge you? _Me?_ That is a thing that is not possible in this world, my love. The heart wants what it wants; _who_ it wants—who are any of us to stand in judgment of that?"

Cesare was speechless.

"My only question is ever this—is he my rival, Cesare?"

"Oh, Sis," Cesare dropped his head and shook it at the both of them, "...you say that you cannot be shocked..." Cesare looked down into her eyes again. "He is not your rival, Sis; my heart would have you both; together. Always. And equally."

Lucrezia was shocked and it was her turn to be speechless.

"You see, then?"

"Equally, you say?"

"I know that neither of you would believe it, but it's true."

"I understand Micheletto's love for you, Cesare, for I have ears, brother—and eyes: Micheletto loves men, I have always heard it said."

"He loves you, too..."

"As a little sister, only..."

"Not true."

"What are you saying, Cesare? I have been, on many occasions, without the cloistered walls of the Vatican and away from our mother's house; I've had my most exquisite education in the art of loving administered to me by you—and the worst education during my marriages to Sforza and d'Este; I have seen more debauchery because of them both—more than you might ever imagine, Cesare, and have learned even harsher lessons in our years apart—so, please tell me exactly what it is that you are proposing, here."

"I am proposing nothing that would even remotely resemble such horror as you are hinting at, my love—and you must tell me what the bastards did to you..."

"Nothing that matters now—their treacheries have long since been avenged, my love, thanks to you. Please...go on..."

"We have been together many years, Micheletto and I, as you know; we have had many honest conversations, Sis, none more honest than the ones we've shared since I shed my Cardinal's hat; you see, I wasn't aware of his proclivities before then, and I didn't care—I was too busy being his master; as busy as father was being master to me; somewhere, upon the long road leading to my failure, we became more than master and servant; more than brothers-at-arms; more than friends...he understood me from the first day he ever met me—understood my unholy love for you..."

"And he's been by your side, all of these years, because he loves you; truly, deeply, loves you..."

"Yes."

"In spite of me."

"Yes. But there is something about us, my love...the three of us; an inexorable bond, that cannot be broken; and there is no desire, on his part or mine, to ever break it."

"He would share you, Cesare? With me?"

"He would share himself with you, as well—if it would please you."

Again, the thing that Lucrezia thought was impossible happened again—she was shocked beyond measure and had to sit down in the chair nearest her; Cesare went down on bended knee before her.

"Lucrezia?"

"And this love that you felt...and was reciprocated, Cesare—when did that happen?"

"Only about a year ago, now."

"A year ago? Before—"

"During the lowest point in my life, Lucrezia, but at a time when I had never been in more command of my mind—or my heart."

Again, Lucrezia was stunned into speechlessness.

"There was a point when I became more than aware of his feelings for me, but you know our Micheletto—he never said a word or made event the hint of an advance; I did not disrespect him by playing the fool or acting insulted...or surprised...or anything...we just let it be and got back to the business of meeting father's ambitions...and what were left of my own. The first time I offered myself to him—he lovingly rebuffed me, for I was heartbroken over you—I was _not_ in command of my heart and he refused to take advantage of me thus..."

"Heartbroken. Over me?"

"Your betrothal to d'Este, when I left Rome like the coward that I was...unable to face you..."

"Cesare..."

"He rebuffed me—he did not want my kiss if it was not to be for him alone and he told me outright that he never expected such a thing to come to pass. That was the most he would ever speak to it, and only because my actions forced him to."

"And a year ago?"

"My love for him...had deepened, Lucrezia; it was my desire to express it...and Micheletto's desire to express his, as well. And so we did."

"And now we are to do what?"

"I don't know. It all depends upon you."

"Upon me?"

"When I made my plans for us to leave Italy I did not have the assurance that Micheletto would come here with us...but to help us get away? That was never at question; but he did have a life before Borgia, my love; in light of our relationship, Lucrezia, I was afraid that he would return to it. But that was no option for him; nor was even the idea of causing you any distress. Again, we talked; I asked much of him, to come away with us, while he could look forward to—what? Only the unknown. And the torment of standing by watching the one that he loved in love with someone else. But I wanted him with us, living in safety—living, above all else—do you understand?"

"I do, Cesare, of course, I do. And so he decided to come after all—to live in torment?"

"He came here, Lucrezia, to _live_...the same as we have."

"And so, what do you want from me, Cesare? I cannot abide a broken heart—not mine or anyone else's! He loves you! You love him!"

"And we both love you!"

"You would parcel me out?"

"No!"

"You have my perfect understanding, but how you can kneel here before me and say that he is not my rival is beyond my comprehension. The whole point to this escape was to attain some happiness in this wretched life, if there was any to be had...and now I'm to share you? I don't have the words..."

"Then do not have them; speak them when they come to you; in the meantime, let us welcome our friend with the full knowledge of what we are walking into and ever toward."

"And what is that, Cesare? What is that, exactly?"

"I...don't know," Cesare's answer was sheepish, but honest.

"I want no hurt hearts, Cesare, and most selfishly, not my own."

"Nothing has changed, Lucrezia—"

"Everything has changed. I could understand much better if you would just choose one or the other of us, Cesare..."

"I cannot! That is a thing not possible in this world! Not when there is so much room in my heart for you both! You are the same as I am, Lucrezia! I know the capacity of you heart!"

"Really? And how many more people must my heart—and apparently, my body—make room for, Cesare? Shall we invite Dorotea back into your bed, as well?" She rose up angrily from her chair and began to pace the small room.

"Stop it, Lucrezia!" Cesare rose up and went to her, and stopped her in her little tracks as he took rough hold of her shoulders. "You're not jealous of her, you love her..."

"I do. But I do not want an orgy with her! Let me go!" she threw his hands off of her.

"I'm sorry, Lucrezia, I'm sorry...I didn't mean—"

The scowl registered upon his sister's face momentarily stilled his tongue; he approached her again and took gentle hold of one of her hands. "I'm sorry, my love, I meant no harm...and please lower your voice, hmm? There is already issue enough between me and Diego regarding her without giving more fuel to his ire."

"What?" It was the first that Lucrezia had heard of such a thing.

"He has said nothing, and neither has she; but he looks at me sometimes in a way that tells me that he is remembering my time with her; it is a good thing that Micheletto has finally come, for it is time that we not only leave Santo Domingo, but move on to our separate lives from the family Ramirez."

"What?"

"We need not live under the same roof, that's all; we did it here for protection. I have been making a point not to be alone with her; to always be in mixed company, and to limit even that; I want him to have no room for quarrel with her..."

"She's said nothing to me of any discord between them..."

"And she wouldn't, Lucrezia. But a man recognizes the gleam of jealous possession in the eyes of another; and such a jealous man does not need to see proof of a woman's infidelity, for his imagination alone can condemn her."

Lucrezia knew that fact well. "Are you forgetting who you are talking to, Cesare?"

"No, my love; but, where we go next...let us look forward to being happy neighbors, yes? Dorotea is to you what Micheletto has been to me—more than a friend; she knows us and it has not tainted her love for us. Either of us. Diego, although he has gone along with all of this, is not the same type of friend as Dorotea and Micheletto are. He judges us all. If he and Dorotea are to have a true life together then we must separate; we must get to our next destination and, all of us, get on with our lives in earnest."

"She knows about us, yes; she _knows_ you, Cesare."

"And still, you love her," Cesare gave a playful tweak to his sister's nose. "She does not threaten you where my love is concerned—you can feel the same about Micheletto."

"I would never have thought when I first saw her that I would ever be able to say such a thing: yes; she is my friend and I do love her, I do not disagree with that."

"But you disagree with something else...it's in the tone of your voice."

"I want happiness. Dorotea will have Diego; you will have Micheletto; I will have the children. That will be enough for me, Cesare. More than enough. It will have to be."

"Lucrezia, don't go like this...Lucrezia!"

But Lucrezia left Cesare and retreated back to the veranda, where she finished the bottle of Chianti all by herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night Diego and Dorotea went out and left Maria in Lucrezia and Cesare's loving care. When the children were all put to bed Lucrezia retired to a sofa on the first floor for the night.

"What is this? Come to bed, Lucrezia."

"I must get used to sleeping alone again, Cesare. Goodnight."

"Stop this and come to bed."

"I mean it, Cesare. Goodnight."

Cesare knew that there was no talking to her when she was in such a mood; as much as he hated to be turned out he left her in peace and went upstairs to bed.

Sometime in the early morning, long before sunrise, Diego and Dorotea returned, surprised to find Lucrezia in deep slumber on the couch and away from Cesare.

"Hmm..trouble in paradise, it seems," Diego snarked; for all he could think about was Cesare: if he and the sister were on bad terms then surely he would be looking to console himself with Dorotea again, if he hadn't already been doing so.

Dorotea, very in tune to her husband's jealousy, linked her arm through his. "Diego, let's get to bed—our night is not over until Maria wakes up..." she cooed at him.

Diego was not dissuaded, however, and looked with more suspicious eyes at his wife. He was about to speak an ill word at her, evidenced by the angry grimace on his face, but heard another speak before he could.

"Yes, Diego. Hello. And _goodnight_ to you both."

Diego recognized the gruff, stilted voice at once. "Micheletto?" he whispered at the darkness from which it came.

Micheletto got up from the chair he'd been sitting in located in a dark corner of the room and emerged fully from the shadows; he walked with a bit of a limp and with the aid of a cane; even with that he still looked like a menace and Diego was not of the mind to try him him; he eyed the man with careful regard as Micheletto greeted his wife.

"Lady Dorotea," Micheletto gave a sincere bow of his head at her.

Dorotea wanted to run and greet him with a warm hug but did not dare in front of her husband. "I'm so glad that you are finally here, she said quietly. "In the morning—breakfast and our proper hello's. Goodnight, my friend." Dorotea blew a kiss at him and then led her husband away and up the stairs.

Just then Lucrezia stirred at the commotion going on above her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes and then focused on the figure before her.

"Micheletto?" Her first impulse was to jump up and hug him, which she did without reservation. "How is your leg? How are you?"

"Blessed to be walking upon my own power. And I've a question for you, little sister."

"Yes?"

"You are sleeping on my bed, it seems. Why?"

To a casual listener his question would have sounded terse and completely out of line; but Lucrezia knew him and his ways, and that his economical words packed quite the loaded question but meant no harm.

"So...we are to have this conversation already?"

"Yes. Sit down."

Lucrezia grudgingly obeyed him. "You have not yet seen Cesare?" Her own loaded question.

"I only just got here, less than an hour ago. No, I have not seen him."

"You've been watching me sleep?"

"I was napping—before Diego came in and made an ass of himself."

"He is a jealous man."

"Jealous men—are a useless lot."

"You've never been jealous, Micheletto?"

"Of course, I have."

"And were you useless?"

"More than the law should have allowed."

Lucrezia could not help the chuckle that escaped her.

"That's better, then."

"Your honesty is always more than appreciated, Micheletto."

"And you shall always have it, Lucrezia."

Micheletto very rarely called her by her given name and it had a great impact on Lucrezia at that moment.

"I'm glad that he's had you as a true friend, Micheletto, who knew the truth about him and me and our unholy love—and loved him anyway; I've only come to know such a luxury late in my life, in the form of Dorotea's friendship. Cesare told me about the the two of you.; and how your love became a deeper one."

"And so it has caused this. I'm sorry."

"The idea of sharing him with you has caused this."

"Sharing him? I've proposed no such thing."

"But he has."

"I see."

"And so do I."

"I don't think you do. Or Cesare either, for that matter."

"What?"

"The matter at hand now is to get away from here; Dorotea is a wonder and your loving friend; her husband is not. Santo Domingo is full of treachery. I have stayed abreast of things here in all of this time; the only thing that prevented me from getting here sooner is this..." Micheletto gave a pat to the leg leading to his damaged foot. "Go upstairs to the man who loves you, Lucrezia; and leave _this_ man who loves you, down here to keep watch, hmm."

"You need rest, I'm sure; food—let me make you something to eat, Mi—"

"Morning is not far off; I'll sleep properly after we leave Santo Domingo. Go on."

"He will want to come down and see you when I tell him that you are here."

"Then do not tell him, yet, that I am here."

"Micheletto, I—"

Micheletto took one of Lucrezia's hands into his own and gave the back of it a sweet kiss; he looked at her and did not need to give voice to his command again.

"Lucrezia?" Cesare shot up to sitting when he heard their bedroom door open. "Finally..." Cesare gave a sigh of relief as he opened his arms to receive her, "you've come to your senses..." But Lucrezia did not approach the bed. "Lucrezia? Come to bed..."

"Micheletto is here."

"What? Then let us go and welcome him!"

"I have seen him—I think you should go and have your moment with him. Alone."

"Lucrezia..."

"I'm alright; I love you both; you are right, Cesare...this bond—it cannot be broken. Go on, I know that you both have much to talk about."

"We _all_ have much to talk about—come down with me, my love..." Cesare got up out of their bed and held out his hand to her; Lucrezia took hold of it and kissed his palm.

"Go on, Cesare." She withdrew her hand slowly from him then retrieved a pair of his breeches and held them out to him. "Go on."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Micheletto!"

Micheletto looked up at his friend, irritation written all over his face.

"What's this?"

"I told her not to tell you until morning—"

"You knew that she could do no such thing—welcome, my friend." Cesare joined Micheletto on the couch and gave him a manly hug.

Micheletto's grimace at his friend remained intact. "Have you lost your mind? Have you no tact?"

"What?"

"Share you?"

"She broached that already?"

"It's why she was down here in the first place, hmm?"

"I...I..."

"You what?"

"I was happy to get your letter; happy to know that soon you would be here—I needed to tell her; I needed..."

"Your love has grown greedy."

"Greedy? Because I love you both? Want you..." Cesare remembered where he was in the house and lowered his voice, "want you both? I can't live without either of you; I want the two people that I love most in this world to love each other."

"It is not a thing to be forced, Cesare—was our love a forced thing?"

"No..."

"No. It happened in its own time. If such a thing is to happen between the three of us—it must go the same way, hmm? I didn't come here with that hope at the forefront of my desires—I came to be with my friends—and we must get you away from Diego, your welcome mat with him has worn thin."

"This I know."

"So—to—"

"Jamaica. Or Tortuga."

"Is that where he wants to go?"

"He wants to go beyond even those."

"But no further than his old employer."

"Can you blame him? I'd like to go beyond, as well."

"Jamaica is even worse than here, Cesare; I know nothing of Tortuga. God only knows what dangers lie further."

"That may be, but I shall be content to venture forth in stages—being here at all makes that more than a possibility, now."

"And Lucrezia? How many times must she be uprooted?"

"She is resilient, Micheletto, you know this."

"And Dorotea?"

"She loves her husband and will follow him to the ends of the Earth."

"Too bad that he is a man not worthy of her loyalty—or her love; the curse of most beautiful women, it seems."

"Noticed that already, have you?"

"Tonight—standing over Lucrezia as she slept, making disparaging remarks about you both, unaware that eyes were upon him."

"Then you have not come a moment too soon, my friend."

"And so when?"

"There's not so much to do here; we pack up our few belongings and make the short voyage; there are settlers there."

"This slave trade is abominable business."

"I agree; it sits well with none of us—except for Diego."

"No surprise, there."

"It is the sugar trade that flourishes in these parts and they are needed; our funds are considerable, but must ever be fortified; cassava has been a good crop here and we've very few slaves; we treat them with kindness—not common or appreciated here, I'm sorry to say. I know that I could run a sugar mill, I've been studying the trade all of this time; and have been learning of the timber and tobacco trades, as well—I know that I could run any sort of plantation; I would rather timber than sugar or tobacco. We can make a good life for ourselves doing so, Micheletto, I'm certain of it."

"So which one, then?

"I lean toward Tortuga; Diego desires to go to Jamaica."

"The women will be disappointed at separating."

"That they will, but it is a necessary thing."

Micheletto only gave a grunt and a nod.

"More on this when the sun rises, hmm?"

Micheletto gave another grunt of agreement.

"I have missed you, Micheletto."

"And I, you."

Cesare leaned into Micheletto.

"Watch yourself—we are not alone, here," came Micheletto's low growl at his friend.

"I want to kiss these..." Cesare whispered as he dared to gently trace the outline of Micheletto's tightly-drawn lips.

The first intimate and remote hint of a smile from Micheletto then. "We are not alone here. And I am more than conflicted—greedy one."

"I'm not greedy, Micheletto..." Cesare's lips came closer to his prize.

"This is madness, Cesare..." Micheletto's protest was gruff, but weak, and very quickly cut short by Cesare's kiss.

From her vantage point, crouched on the floor at the top of the stairs and looking through the slats of the banister, Lucrezia watched them: horrified at what her eyes were witnessing; moved by their obvious and true love for one another; angered and unsurprised at Cesare's betrayal—and more than intrigued by their burning passion.


	2. A Cut To The Quick

Diego Ramirez and his "brothers" attended the landowners' meeting later that week and confirmed what they already knew; the recent spate of skirmishes between the Taíno natives and the colonists had been escalating and governor Nicolás de Ovando ordered another of his bloody campaigns to quell the revolt.

"And he will do what with them, now?"

"There are gold mines here, apparently—the survivors shall be enslaved to work in them," Cesare answered his sister grimly.

"As good a time as any to leave this place, then, eh, my friends?"

Cesare and Micheletto both gave their reserved looks at Diego, each doing well to hold back their contempt at the word "friend" issuing forth from his lips.

The group was amassed at the large dining table in the kitchen, done with the evening meal and ready to seriously discuss their plans for departure from Santo Domingo.

"Yes. And so we should cut to the quick, I'm afraid—now would also be a good time to go our separate ways—do you not agree, Diego?"

Lucrezia took note that her brother's words were a decree, not a suggestion; the look of surprise on Dorotea's face was genuine and heartbreaking, for Lucrezia had not broached her brother's concern for Dorotea with the woman herself, fearing the rancor that might have ensued in so doing; she also noted that Diego had the look of surprise on his face, and also disappointment at having been beaten to the punch, and miffed that the words had come from Cesare's lips instead of his own.

"Diego has told me of our choices in leaving here, Cesare—should we not all seek to land at our next destination together? Safety is still an issue, is it not?" Dorotea's worried question was innocent and genuine, and it was her friendship with Lucrezia that was the utmost concern to her at that moment, for she truly loved her like a sister and did not desire to part.

Of course, Diego read it in a completely other manner and an instant grimace formed on his face at her. Lucrezia made to reach her hand across the table to take hold of her friend's but found that Micheletto's hand had quickly taken up her cause before she could do so.

Micheletto gave the back of Dorotea's hand a sweet kiss before he addressed her quietly. "My Lady, surely you know that your husband and Cesare have done nothing but assess those choices, before they came here, and certainly continued to do since they've been here; I have done the same, as I prepared to come join you—this place is the most unstable in the region; we stand far better chances for success—and for living—if we head away from these shores and this murderous governor, whose violent practices put us all at risk; your own husband has first-hand knowledge of Jamaica and Tortuga, and we follow his advice to choose one of those places; should they be the same, the need to live in the same quarters will not be necessary—we could, indeed, be happy neighbors."

"And if that place is not the same, Micheletto?"

"You are a seasoned first mate, my love, as a wife of mine surely must be—two days at sea and you would be reunited with your lovely Lucrezia—we would indeed be happy neighbors," Diego gave Micheletto a look as he took his wife's free hand into his own, "just as Micheletto says," he smiled at Dorotea.

Lucrezia understood that Diego was only able to tolerate Micheletto's hold upon his wife because he knew the man's interest in her was not at issue; had it been Cesare...but then, Cesare would not have dared to imperil Dorotea in such a manner, which she and Micheletto both well knew.

Cesare remained quiet in his seat, looking at no one at the table, only far off into the distance, doing well, still, at that moment, to mask his truest ire at Diego. Dorotea looked equanimously at each man, Cesare first, then Micheletto, then her husband—and then erupted at them all as she rose and yanked her hands away from Micheletto and Diego.

"You...men! I know where you wish to go, Diego—and you, Cesare? This little ambush surely means that our destinations are not one and the same! Lucrezia? Did you know of this plot?" Dorotea whipped her head angrily in the other woman's direction. The silent tears steaming down her friend's face told Dorotea that Lucrezia was not complicit in the betrayal that she felt. "Come, Lucrezia, it seems that we have some packing to do." Dorotea went to Lucrezia at her seat, took up her hand and spirited angrily away with her.

"That went about as well as could be expected, I think..." Diego offered at the other two men smugly, satisfied that Dorotea was as angry at them as she was with him. He looked forward to smoothing it all over with her, far away from Cesare Borgia, which was guaranteed, wherever the bastard chose to go.

"They will talk; and calm down; and realize all is for the best, hmm? We've other things to discuss; property to separate; passage to arrange, for us anyway," Micheletto said to Diego, for Cesare was still worried about Dorotea's true welfare, even as his pragmatic—and false—smile issued forth at Diego.

"So you are set to continue on to?" Cesare finally spoke again.

"Jamaica, for us. You know that is my desire, Cesare."

"It's still rather wild there, is it not? Spanish governance is not yet established, hmm?"

"I have friends in Saint Ann's Bay—we will be fine. And so you will go on to Tortuga, then."

"Yes."

"Lumber? Sugar, Cesare...tobacco—those are goods that will bring you prosperity in these parts..."

"Is that right? And what will bring you prosperity in yours, Diego? Captured booty? Hidden treasure?"

"Are you calling me a pirate?" The smug look on Diego's face turned to a grimace.

"I'm simply saying that when you and your...associates...find your fleets destroyed and sinking to the bottom of the sea, well, you shall keep me in business, hmm? I will be happy to supply you with the lumber necessary to rebuild your ships."

"And who would do such a thing, Cesare? Destroy my ships?"

"Why, Spain, of course."

"Maybe I'm working for Spain, Cesare, and am not a pirate, but a protector."

"Maybe. But I doubt that. A protector would know best how to pirate, after all, hmm?"

"And what in damnation is that to you?" Diego rose menacingly from his seat; Micheletto made to rise from his own but Cesare put a hand to his forearm lightly and stopped him.

Cesare rose from his own seat then to meet the man face to face and at eye level. "It is nothing to me—where you are concerned, Diego."

"And so, too, shall it be where my wife is concerned, Cesare Borgia. You sick bastard, you want them both, do not deny it!" Diego struggled to keep his voice down and his fury under control.

"I want everyone happy. Your wife, included," Cesare said, remaining calm.

From his seat Micheletto looked up at his friend and thought he saw Rodrigo Borgia incarnate and at his unflappable best.

"Is that right?"

"She is my friend; my sister's dearest friend, and therefore like a sister to me, as well."

"Well, we've all seen how you treat your sister, so pardon me if I am not impressed by your...sentiment," Diego spat the words at him. "I might have been able to honor your 'concern'—if you hadn't stuck your prick in her, but she is absolutely of no concern to you, Borgia."

"The Lady has already had one husband who did not deserve her—"

"And? You fancy yourself her protector, do you?"

"I do."

"A protector...would know best how to pirate, after all, hmm? You may go straight to hell, Cesare Borgia. You'll have no quarrel with me about the division of shit here, take with you what you want—if I left here with only Dorotea and Maria and away from you I would still be the richest—and happiest—man in this world!"

Cesare let all of the insults go unchecked as the man stormed away.

"Are you satisfied, then?" came Micheletto's gruff question.

"I am. Your intelligence proves correct and he is a better man than I thought—it is only me, at this point, that brings out the worst in him...for her sake I hope that will ever remain the case."

"You've made a sure enemy of him, now."

"He was always an enemy, it seems."

"He'll never let her come to see Lucrezia."

"Well, if his home is a safe one to visit then Lucrezia will go to see her, and I hope that will be so...the waters off of Jamaica can be quite the rough run—only time will tell if he'll continue to work for the Crown and refrain from making the easy choice to betray it."

"The deadly choice, you mean."

"Yes. And now, the women—we must leave them to console one another, hmm?"

Micheletto only grunted.

"To the Harbourmaster in the morning, then—you have the names ready?"

"Of course; and the coin; the voyage shall be a gloriously short one."

"A drink then, Micheletto, for I have a feeling that a long night is ahead of us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cesare reads my mind..."

"What?"

"He knows that there is rancor between me and Diego..."

"Well, you put on a good face, my love, but it has become apparent that Diego is not pleased to remain in our company."

"Cesare's company. And I am not fooled by that little display downstairs—you knew didn't you?"

"Only that he saw the need to give your union the chance that it deserves...that we should part—but not that we would not go to the same place, Dorotea, and be able to see each other."

"I know that this place leaves much to be desired...but my vision, especially after having been here with you, included our children, Lucrezia, growing up together..."

Both women had tears streaming down their faces by then.

"He wants your happiness, Dorotea, as do I—will you? Be happy?"

"My Diego...he will be happier when the reminder of my past no longer resides down the hall from me."

"Will _you_ be happy, Dorotea?"

"I will, my love. And please do not worry after me—this is not our ending; I know where you will be, should I ever need you—and you know where I will be—we will not lose touch, that is my promise to you, Lucrezia."

"And mine to you, Dorotea."

Lucrezia considered confessing her own fears about the future concerning Cesare's recent revelation to her, and what she had witnessed with her own eyes a few short days before; she wondered what in the world her counsel would be regarding such a matter as they both valiantly tried to collect themselves and end their tears; as she fixed her mouth to begin her difficult admission they heard Maria's soft cry turn to an unhappy wail coming from the nursery, joined immediately by Rodrigo's.

"Oh..." Dorotea continued to try and quell her sniffles, "Maria is on a terrible schedule, of late; we'll get nothing else done tonight..."

"Maybe we'll be able to get them back to sleep..."

"Maybe...but I much prefer their company, and yours, to those louts down below, my love, of that I can assure you..." Dorotea said as she wiped gently at the corners of Lucrezia's eyes with a kerchief. "And now me—we mustn't let the babies see us out-crying them, they would be quite traumatized." Dorotea's little joke joke brought a light chuckle from Lucrezia as she took the kerchief from Dorotea, found a fresh corner and returned the favor. "Thank you, so...come, my darling..." Dorotea held out her hand to Lucrezia and led her away to the nursery.

"Such grown babies, men are...wouldn't it be nice if the change of a clout and a suckle at the breast were the only things needed to bring them back to their senses?" Lucrezia's serious and disgusted question brought a hearty fit of laughter from Dorotea.

"Oh, Lucrezia! An excellent observation, even if it is an insult to babies..." Dorotea gave her friend a quick kiss to the cheek. "I do love you so!"


	3. Our Borgia Blood

The process of settling accounts, packing their belongings, securing passage, and seeing to the disposition of their hands took the "family Ramirez" almost another month to finalize. The few Taíno hands they had taken on had easily, and quite expectedly, declined their interest in relocating with either Cesare or Diego, for Santo Domingo was the land of their ancestors, no matter what King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had decreed, and for better or worse it was the soil that they would die upon. Their remaining African hands, already treacherously separated from their own immediate families, eagerly accepted the offer of their kind masters to follow them further away to yet another unknown land.

Diego had mates secured for his own ship and, with the aid of the Harbourmaster, helped Cesare and Micheletto vet and secure the necessary hands needed to sail their own newly acquired caravel, christened as the _Novo Mundo_.

When asked by Diego why Cesare had chosen the Portuguese spelling instead of the Spanish in naming his ship, Cesare replied, "Because I am beholden to no country, yet I wish to honor these new environs that now encompass my home and the greatest hopes for both of our families, Diego."

It was a week before the men were to set sail away from each other and the occasion of their conversation was a night at the local tavern, away from the women, to discuss the final particulars of that forthcoming event and Diego realized that Cesare's statement of goodwill was as close to an apology that he was ever going to give. The two men locked eyes upon each other in full recognition of that fact and then toasted each other with a loud clank of their tankards of ale.

"Ah...a game of _Frussi_ has broken out in the corner there..." Micheletto motioned with the tip of his walking cane at a lively group in a corner near the back of the tavern. He gave a stiff nod at both men as he rose up and then left them to speak alone.

" _Novo Mundo_ , huh? You would honor these new environs more if you used the Arawak, eh?"

"And it is a word that I know in Arawak, Diego, thanks to Yuisa, our maidservant; but such a word would only cause the Spanish to destroy my new ship, rather than welcome it in any of their ports, hmm? The Portuguese was a happy medium. Or would you welcome the idea of Spanish cannon upon her, Diego?" Cesare smirked at the man.

"No—and well done, then, Cesare," Diego smiled back at him. "Lessons in Arawak with Yuisa? What on God's Earth caused that to come about?"

"The need to prevent your ire, Diego, by occupying myself away from your wife," Cesare smiled broadly back at him. "Lucrezia and I both were eagerly apprised of the Taíno culture...and the treatment of them by Ovando—what he did to their Chieftess, Anacaona...and so many others—he is a monster."

"They said the same of you, back in Italy."

"And I was—to my more than deserving enemies—but, contrary to popular belief at the time, it was never my goal to rule the world, Diego; it was certainly not my intent, either, to subjugate good citizens or enslave people. Italy never embraced my father, or me; judging by this first-hand view of administration by Ovando for his beloved King and Queen, I understand, much better now, the Italian...discontent...with Spain. Too bad for Italy, I say, for my father was not the Spanish Beast that he was declared to be; he was no perfect man, but he was as perfectly Roman as his contemporaries."

Diego held up his tankard again. "To Pope Alexander Sixtus—may he rest in peace." With that touching and sincere gesture Diego had offered his own unspoken apology, which was not at all lost upon Cesare, and the truce between them was firmly cemented when their two tankards met again. It was also not lost upon Cesare that Diego's extreme goodwill stemmed from the fact that he was looking forward to a happy future where his wife and Cesare would be separated from each other; no matter the man's honest intent, the words that came out Diego's mouth next were a true, and comical, surprise.

"You won't rethink Jamaica, Cesare? It may be wild but Tortuga is quite remote—it will be quite an adjustment, even from this place, for you and Lucrezia both."

 _Shall I call you Alfonso d'Este, now? It is the ale, of course_. Cesare was thinking of the few stories he'd gotten out of his sister regarding her third husband's fickle heart, and his jealousy, which always abated when Cesare was away from her, and even moreso when Cesare appeared to be nearing his final demise. _You actually believe those words, Diego, but I know better_.

"Rethinking it, then?" Diego asked through his raised and hopeful eyebrows, as it appeared to him that Cesare was seriously pondering the idea.

"It is kind of you to ask, Diego, but I am settled on Tortuga," Cesare said firmly as he reached across the table and gave a friendly pat to Diego's shoulder.

"Dorotea is still upset with me..."

"And Lucrezia, with me."

"You must come and visit us, Cesare; we must arrange for the women to see each other, whenever it is possible..." The third tankard of strong ale the Diego had just finished made his words quite sluggish and comically deliberate against his uncooperative tongue; even so, he held it up high and waved it at the barmaid for a refill.

"We will do that, Diego, and you must know that our door will ever be open to welcome you all, as well."

"I tell you, Cesare, I have heard things about the farther reaches...I have friends that sailed with Colombo to Venezuela...Heaven on Earth, he called it, and the 'Land of Grace'...my friends had fantastic stories to tell of its beauty...I would like to see it with my own eyes before I die..."

Cesare wondered if Dorotea knew of his desires but said nothing as Diego leaned back upon the wall behind their table and settled in to enjoy his freshly-poured ale.

"Will you go to Ovando's ball at week's end, Cesare? He desires to say his farewell to us, as he often does when he hears that colonists have made plans to leave."

"Really? I think not."

"Why not? He knows not who you are."

"Other dignitaries will be attending this ball, as I understand it, from as far as England, I've heard; Surely an Italian or two will be in attendance, hmm? I might be recognized. I'd rather not chance that."

"Well, surely Micheletto—"

"It has been easy to maintain our ruse so far away from our neighbors, Diego, but for Micheletto to attend and try and pass himself off as your Spanish brother—that would be quite the stretch, don't you agree?''

Diego gave an agreeable nod of his head. "But I have met him once before...he knows me to have brothers..."

"And your brothers, unfortunately, will be ill," Cesare raised a conspiratorial eyebrow at Diego along with his tankard before he took a satisfying slug of ale, "...on that most auspicious evening." he finished his sentence with a smile, his eyes boring into Diego's as he set down his drink.

Cesare and Lucrezia had left all of the major socializing with the other colonists up to Diego and Dorotea; Lucrezia had always been happy to remain behind with the children, and Cesare, with her; Micheletto attended in secret to keep abreast of any news or gossip, which such events were rife with.

"Understood, Cesare, you've never been one for pomp and circumstance, if I recall correctly."

"That, you do, Diego. It is late; we've had a busy day—it may be safe to return home now, hmm?"

Diego let out a hearty bellow. "Ha! Maybe for you, Cesare, but Dorotea continues to greet all of my sincerest attempts at conversation with a complete and stony silence."

"One last drink, then, and we shall go home to face them, together, yes?"

Cesare did not want another drink, he wanted to go home to Lucrezia; he would have been happy to leave the man to drink himself into a complete stupor, but he knew that Diego's well-intentioned good-will was fragile, and prone to evaporate as soon as he was sobered-up; one more drink and he would have to be carried home, anyway, but to head home to the women without Diego being able to bear secure witness to the fact that they had done so together was an unwise course; and so, Cesare continued to nurse his lonely, not even half-finished ale as Diego began his fifth. He gave a quick glance at Micheletto, who had been observing them throughout his lively game, where he and his partner were winning; Micheletto gave him a nod, then turned his attention back to the table and finished out the round.

"Micheletto! Join us for a drink..." Diego slurred at him when Micheletto came to their table a few moments later.

"We're going home, Diego, remember?" Cesare said to the inebriated man as he stood up.

"Oh...yes..."

Cesare took one arm and Micheletto the other as they pulled Diego to standing and helped him out of the tavern.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their last month together, for Lucrezia and Dorotea, had been a brave exercise in staving off ever-threatening tears and their profound sorrow at soon parting ways. It had been their task to see to the disposition of the household servants and field hands. Their Taíno hands had been easy to converse with, especially with the aid of Yuisa, their lovely, young maidservant, and they would all be staying behind, recommended to the plantation of a family Dorotea had gotten to know well-enough to see that they were not the harshest of slave owners.

The Africans had been harder to converse with as they knew no Italian or Spanish; when Lucrezia's meaning was finally conveyed however, so to was their desire to leave Santo Domingo and go with their masters. There were some fifteen men and women and they had all come from a place called Mauritania, although none of them appeared to be related to each other; Lucrezia had found out that tidbit from Cesare, who hadn't said much else about the disagreeable process after he'd come back with Diego from buying them at market.

They had both depended on two in particular, a young man named "Jose" on the bill of sale, and a matronly woman named "Therese"; Lucrezia had taken it upon herself to ascertain if those were their real names, and of course, they were not. Determined to show them all that they were respected as fellow human beings, Lucrezia insisted on learning their given names, in their own language, just as she had done with their Taíno workers. "Jose" was actually Idrissa and "Therese" was actually Fati Ba; they had proven instrumental in helping her to communicate with the others, and they all appeared to greatly appreciate being known by their true names, as well as being shown genuine good will and fair treatment by their owners.

With so many hands to assist with their scant packing of belongings Lucrezia and Dorotea had much free time to be with each other. While their men handled business in town the day soon turned to evening; with the children put down in the nursery the women stole away to Dorotea's bedroom to have a little wine and conversation. Lazing comfortably on Dorotea's sumptuous cherrywood four-poster bed, the women sat shoulder-to-shoulder beside each other, sipping wine.

"Can you imagine such a thing? Being taken away from everything you've ever known, and in chains, no less?" Lucrezia shuddered visibly at the thought of her question to Dorotea.

"I cannot, my love. But what a blessing for them that fate has brought them under your kind concern."

"At least we left our former lives willingly...but...do you miss Italy, Dorotea? Any aspect, at all, of your life before?"

"Oh, Lucrezia...are you worried for me, still?"

"I am worried for us, both, Dorotea."

"No, my love; even with ever more unknown looming before us all, no—I miss nothing of Italy. But I had not your family, my love; my mother died when I was very young; and my father had no interest in me until I was marriageable; you know that my life in Venice was no life for me at all; I am happy to go with my Diego wherever he desires to take us, truly I am, Lucrezia, and I have no fear, as long as he is with me and our Maria."

"But the air here has been heavy with displeasure between you both, ever since that dreadful night—"

"I am sad to leave you, my love, and he understands that; he has been wise to let me fume and go about my way without further upsetting me—I shall not make him suffer much longer, I promise."

The women smiled at each other, but Dorotea noticed the strain at the corner of Lucrezia's mouth which barely helped to hold hers.

"Lucrezia, what is it?"

For the second time Lucrezia struggled with the decision to confide in her friend over the growing angst that she was feeling regarding Cesare revelation about his relationship with Micheletto, and his libertine proposal which followed thereafter; she had no idea what sort of counsel Dorotea might offer, or if she would be able to offer any at all; more than anything it was her pride that held her tongue still, for Dorotea was going off to her life with her man, and certainly thought that Lucrezia was doing the same; yet Cesare's newest desire was still a betrayal and a crushing blow to Lucrezia's own heart and ego—but she wanted no one's pity.

"Lucrezia?"

The alarm in Dorotea's voice brought Lucrezia out of her own head and back to the present with her friend; the need to unburden herself won out over her pride, then, which had begged for her to endure her shame in continued privacy.

"Cesare loves Micheletto," Lucrezia blurted out awkwardly.

"Well, of course he does, my love, they are as brothers, after all of this time..."

"No...not as a brother...not anymore."

"What are you saying?"

"You do know that Micheletto...loves men...has relations—carnal relations—with men...yes?"

"I...no, my love, I have never known any such personal information about him..."

"He kept it a secret, even from Cesare, for many years...necessary, I suppose, on general principle, for his own safety, of course."

Dorotea sat up and set her goblet of wine upon the table next to her bed; she turned back to her friend and held out her hand in silent demand for Lucrezia's.

"No—the only way I can go on is to empty this cup, and soon."

"Lucrezia, I need you sober for this narrative..."

"And I assure you that I will not get through it without another bottle at the ready, Dorotea, for this goblet alone is not enough." To prove her point Lucrezia downed the remaining libation in one unladylike gulp.

"Lucrezia!"

"My heart has been over-burdened all of this time, Dorotea; ever since Micheletto returned to us, which was the occasion of Cesare's revelation to me. I know that Rome was full of sodomites, none that I ever met—knowingly, anyway. I remember the awful time my father had with Savonarola; Cesare's trials with him—his awful end; I also remember my father joking that had the heretic's edicts been met then half of the cardinals in the Vatican would have been burned at the stake.

"And yet I never gave much thought to such things, one way or the other...I had so many of my problems to keep me occupied. And now, after everything I have been through...that Cesare has been through—he tells me that he is in love with a man! A man, Dorotea, as well as myself! A man that had been entrusted in the past with guarding the lives of my family! And still does so to this day. A man that I love as a brother, and who I thought loved me as a sister...but, according to Cesare, would love me more than even that—and with Cesare's blessing."

Dorotea's mouth hung open, unable to form words, and her only response came at Lucrezia, then, in the unbelieving and slow shake of her head. "I...cannot believe such a thing...I have heard of men in battle, who look to one another for temporary...relief...during times of war—"

"Men with such existing propensities, certainly?" Lucrezia interrupted her, more than scandalized.

"No, not necessarily; Giovanni used to tell me of such accounts, for he was a man who found great entertainment in gossip, especially of the carnal nature and he often summed it all up by saying, 'Dorotea, war often makes good men do strange things'. Dorotea's words were accompanied by an comical impression of her first husband, with her chest poked-out and her cheeks puffed-up with air, her voice low and condescending. "His accounts were a bit too detailed for me, Lucrezia, to the point where I wondered if they were merely anecdotes—or actual remembrances," she finished with a disgusted shrug. "He was that type, to hide his own behavior behind stories of others, and he enjoyed talking about the salacious exploits of whores much too much, I always found. But, I digress; your Cesare has never been one to find himself at a loss for female companionship—no matter where he happened to be, my love."

"And this I know, Dorotea, and have always known; yet, from his own lips he told me that he loves Micheletto; desires him, as he desires me. Equally."

"Equally? He...wants you...both?"

"And would share me...share himself...share our love...our bodies—"

"No..."

"Yes."

Dorotea took back both her goblet and bottle of wine then poured them both fresh drinks as Lucrezia recounted the events of the night of Micheletto's arrival.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's this?"

It was Diego who had spoken out, but none of the men standing in the open doorway had expected to find the vision before them.

Dorotea had taken to sleeping happily on a little cot in the nursery since the spat with her Diego had commenced; and she had already determined that was the night when she would grant him his reprieve and punish him no longer with the lack of her affection. She had planned to be waiting for him alone, but Lucrezia's revelation had carried their conversation far away from any regard for the sense of time.

And so there they were, reclined upon the bed, Lucrezia resting against her friend's bosom and the comfort of her embrace, talking quietly and quite seriously; two ethereal beauties in their simple, virginal white chemises, which highlighted, almost sinfully, the stark contrast between their modesty and the all-encompassing allure of their curvaceous bodies; Dorotea, with her lush, loose locks tumbling down her shoulders and bleeding into Lucrezia's; a stunning titian-haired goddess and a golden-haired angel surely descended from nowhere other than the heavens; so serene and not startled one bit by the three men that had come bursting into the room.

Speechless, the men were, and greatly affected. Diego, hoisted to standing on his drunken legs by Cesare on one side of him and Micheletto on the other, knew that Dorotea's presence in their bedroom was a positive sign of her much-needed forgiveness as his eyes cleared and found hers, unable to break his gaze; Cesare's eyes were riveted upon the pair of them, wishing that he had talent with a paint brush and canvas, for he felt that the moment should have been captured for posterity and given as a gift to humanity; only Micheletto looked away, although the slow tilt of his head as he cast his gaze upon his boot tips felt like more of a regret than a respectful show of propriety.

Diego struggled visibly to fix his besotted lips in order to address his woman properly. "Dorotea, my love," enunciated slowly, "you have forgiven me...for my loutishness?" he asked carefully.

"I have, my love. Come to me."

Lucrezia sat up, gave her friend a smile and a kiss on both cheeks, then got up from the bed as Cesare and Micheletto helped Diego to take her place upon it; she looked at neither of them as she headed for the door.

"I'm so sorry my love, to come to you this way."

"You have a lifetime to make it up to me, Diego."

"But I want to make it up to you tonight..." he complained against himself, sorry that he had drunk himself to uselessness.

"Lay yourself down now, my love, and sleep."

"No sleep—you must let me hold you, at least," Diego pleaded.

"Lucky for you that you are so handsome, Diego, and that I find such a prospect, even in your current state, desirable at all."

Just then they all heard the sound of a crying babe come from the nursery.

"Oh—Dorotea—I will get her..." Lucrezia whispered at her friend, "Maria and I will have a lovely time.." She blew her a kiss from the door and left.

"All is well here, then?" Cesare smiled down at the two upon the bed.

"All is well here, Cesare," Dorotea mouthed to him as her husband took appreciative hold of her, so lost in the feel of her and his desire that he did not even hear Cesare.

"Will you stay and watch? Out of here, already," Micheletto grumbled as he pulled his amused friend by the arm and led him out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lucrezia..."

Cesare's quiet call from the doorway behind her was a question full of his concern and love; it sent a shiver through her heart that traveled through every nerve in her body, and made her very legs go weak at the knees as her nether region awoke from its long, lonely slumber. _How does he do that, with his voice alone? Make me go wet and out of my mind with desire?_ "Shh...I'm just getting this precious one back to sleep," she managed as she rocked the babe in her arms gently.

Cesare said nothing as Lucrezia settled the child further into sleep and then back into her crib; Lucrezia stood a long while with her back to him, knowing that he wanted to talk to her and dreading what he wanted to talk about; Cesare only waited, patiently, for he knew better than to try any other tactic with her. Finally, she turned away from the crib and went next to Rodrigo, who was still sleeping peacefully in his own; she then went to Giovanni and gave a light kiss to his forehead; she headed silently past Cesare then, and out of the nursery.

"You told her."

"Of course I told her, I had to talk to someone, this thing has been driving me to drink, as you well know," Lucrezia snapped at him. The villa was quiet and they were in the kitchen, where Lucrezia was, indeed, reaching for a fresh bottle of wine from the rack upon the wall.

"Put that down..." Cesare frowned through his command at her.

"Now you order me about...like a child. Is that what I have to look forward to, Cesare Borgia? In the New World?"

"We are already in the New World. And no. You have ever my love to look forward to, here...where we go next...now—and forever."

"Do I?"

Cesare walked over to her, gently took the bottle out her hand and set it upon the table; he took her chin into his hand and even more gently, forced her gaze upon him. "You do." His words were barely a whisper, as was the distance of his mouth from hers when he spoke them. "We should be doing what they are doing...upstairs, there..." His lips were about to overtake hers but Lucrezia broke out of his spell and pushed him away.

"They are doing nothing...not tonight, anyway...not in his wretched state. And I am even less inclined to engage with you in such a way, Cesare." Lucrezia moved far way from him as she went to the patio portico and looked out into the dark night.

"Liar. Beautiful..." Cesare took slow, deliberate steps toward her, "...little..." he was upon her and encircled his arms about her delicate waist, "...liar..." he murmured into her hair.

"Why are you at me, brother? Surely Micheletto is waiting for you," she said icily.

"Micheletto and I have not indulged ourselves in such a manner, Lucrezia—" Cesare took an angry step away from her. " _No one_...has indulged themselves—for the whole of this past month—in such a manner! Have you both not made the men in this house suffer enough?"

Lucrezia turned, just as angrily, to face him. "And who, truly, brought about all of this suffering? Not I. Not Dorotea. Oh!" she stomped her foot at him as her fists pounded upon the sides of her thighs. "It is too much, Cesare! Your revelation; this impending separation—you said that we would be happy neighbors—you lied to me!" Lucrezia railed at him, "You knew all along that our journey away from here would also be a journey away from Dorotea, and you didn't even tell me! So like father, you are! To keep the important details to yourself! With no thought of the impact of your actions upon the others around you!"

"You are upset, and for no reason—" he countered hotly.

She gawped at him. "No reason?" 

"No reason! The discord between myself and Diego is mended—it is our promise to you both that you and Dorotea will not lose touch with each other—they've made up with each other, why can we not do the same?" he asked her through the flare of his nostrils, his stance across from her as combative and exasperated as his words.

"We cannot do the same brother..." Lucrezia went to the table and snatched up the wine bottle Cesare had taken from her before, "because, while our bed is quite comfortable, it is not big enough to accommodate _three_...a necessary thing, I understand, for us going forward, yes? And where _is_ Micheletto?"

"Stop this..."

But Lucrezia turned to leave the room.

"Lucrezia," he barked after her, to which she whipped around to face him again.

"Do not speak my name another time this night, Cesare Borgia; and do not dare to apologize to me, for it is impossible for you to be anything other than your complete self. And so, off to the _Newer_ World we go, then; take care, brother, and never forget that our Borgia blood—and our Borgia _traits_ —make me more than your worthy contender." With that Lucrezia smashed the wine bottle upon the table and stormed away from him, back up the stairs and to the nursery.


	4. Of Love and Murder

Cesare Borgia was no fool; he and Diego Ramirez had made amends, but still did not trust the man as far as he could throw him; and even though he had happily opted out of Governor Nicolás de Ovando's ball, Micheletto surely went stealthily in his stead, to spy upon the events, and especially, Diego.

It was a night of high tension for Cesare as Lucrezia gave him nothing but her silence and a cold shoulder; they would set sail the following morning and, though the hour was late, the only ones getting any sleep at that point were the children.

Cesare sat up, fully dressed, and studied the maps that charted their course to Tortuga for the hundredth time; it was a half-hearted venture, for what was really on his mind was his sister, and how to heal the rift between them. He dared to throw his maps aside and leave his lonely bed to find her and attempt a conversation with her. He went downstairs and found her in the kitchen with Fati Ba, packing provisions for the voyage.

"Fati Ba, it is late—please go and get some sleep, I can manage the rest, yes?" Lucrezia smiled at the woman, busy cleaning ginger roots in a basin.

"I stay, _La Doña_ ," the woman said simply as she continued at her task without even looking up. Seconds later, Fati Ba felt the soft touch of Lucrezia's hand upon one of hers.

"To bed, Fati Ba..." Lucrezia urged her sweetly as she firmly took over the wet root in the woman's hand; Fati Ba smiled her acquiescence and left the kitchen, passing her amused Lady's brother at the archway leading out of the kitchen, leaning against it with his arms crossed, smiling at them both.

" _Buenos noches, Don Ramirez_..." the woman said as she hurried past him and away.

Lucrezia heard Fati Ba address her brother and a scowl grew upon her face immediately, but she did not turn around to level it at him. "Do you have nothing better to do, brother, than spy on me?"

"I'm not spying on you, Sis, I came to talk to you."

"Well, brother, I must tell you that you are wasting your time with such an endeavor, I have nothing to say to you."

"What are you doing there, Sis?"

Lucrezia rolled her eyes hard in her head at his question, and insistence upon annoying her.

"Preparing ginger root for the voyage, and focaccia bread; I suffered greatly with sea-sickness on the trip here and this is a remedy suggested by Dorotea; it helped to keep me from jumping overboard to end my suffering, if you must know. After all that has transpired of late, it seems that I have should have followed my first mind, in that regard."

"You don't mean that."

"Don't I brother?" Lucrezia snapped back at him, still engrossed in her task at the basin.

"You do not..." Cesare said as strode across the wide divide between them, his voice a soft reprimand at her. "Lucrezia..."

Lucrezia heard the slow saunter of his feet and could see him in her minds eye; the lead-off on his right foot and then the lazy sway of his hips, caused by his left foot crossing over the path of his right; his chest out, and probably partially bared under an unlaced and crisp white chemise; his shoulders back and his arms only barely at rest, as if he was at the ready to draw his sword against an enemy.

 _I am your enemy, now, am I not brother? At least my heart is_. "Do not come near me, Cesare."

Cesare ignored her and continued his advance, then was finally upon her, his body only a hair's breadth away from her own. "And what do you do with that, then? The ginger root..." he asked her as if he seriously wanted to know; Lucrezia did not need to face him to confirm the smirk that was upon his face at her,

"If you must know, you suck on it; the flavor quells a restless stomach."

"Hmm...you suck on it? Lucky ginger root."

Lucrezia felt the gentle tug on a lock of hair at the back of her head as Cesare twined it around a finger and then give it kiss before he released it; she whipped around to face him, finally, pushing him angrily way from her as she did so.

"For the last time, get away from me Cesare!"

"I want to talk to you, Lucrezia," he responded calmly at her.

"I know what you want, and talking is not the truest part of your desire..."

"You are correct, Sis. But I wish to talk with you, nevertheless," he smiled at her.

"I have no time or patience for your buffoonery, Cesare Borgia..."

Cesare's smile faded. "Lucrezia, we must not take this quarrel along with us to our new home; can we speak, finally, to this thing that has divided us? Part and parcel to my thoughtless tack against you..."

"It pleases me, brother, that you are so aware of yourself...and your attempt at a reconciliation..."

Cesare stood taller before his sister, hopeful and hanging upon her every word, threatening another smile at her.

"—does not move me."

"Why will you not hear me out? I could explain myself quite—"

"You've already explained yourself well-enough, brother—or has your desire changed to something new? Or possibly...back to the original one, then? That led us here in the first place?" Lucrezia's question was an honest one, but dripping with condescension.

"Well, no...but, please—"

"Then we have already spoken to the matter, and I—"

Just then they were both interrupted by the loud and jovial entry of the Ramirez', back from the ball and making their way through the house upon Diego's drunken rendition of a lively madrigal.

_"...Ruyseor, le ruyseor,_  
_facteme aquesta embaxata,_  
_Y digalo a mon ami_ :  
_que je ya s maritata, dindirindin_

_Dindirin danya, dindirindin!"_

"Alright, enough, Diego, enough, now—you'll wake the children..." Dorotea tried to shush her husband.

"Oh, my love, so right...quietly then..." he whispered back at her. _"Dindirin danya, dindirindin..."_

"Diego, hush...come on, to bed with you, you've only a few hours left before we must rise..."

"I...am awake my love, and could sing all night! I could dance you all the way to Jamaica and never get our feet wet!"

"That's lovely, husband, but I would rather my seat on our _Rosa Bianca_ , if you don't mind..."

"Good evening, friends—do you need assistance up these steep stairs?" It was Micheletto who had appeared, as if out of thin air.

Diego looked his surprise and then beyond the man to see Cesare and Lucrezia entering the great room from the kitchen.

"Does no one sleep tonight?"

"The babies, my friend, but not much longer if you keep this up, hmm?" Micheletto nodded at him.

"You astound me, Micheletto, the way you get about with that cane—" Diego huffed at him, put off by Micheletto's interference and seemingly unscathed virility, which was assaulting his own, at that moment.

"The upside of torture, then, which encourages one to master new abilities, yes?"

"I am quite able to make this little climb on my own, thank you. You all missed an exquisite time, did they not, Dorotea?"

"It was an exquisite time, my love, and I am exquisitely tired...up with you, now..."

"And up with _you_ , my love, but I don't think you'll be getting to sleep anytime soon..." Diego leered at her.

Dorotea gave an exasperated sigh at her husband and made away without him. Diego stood on the stair landing and surveyed the three assembled in their separate corners of the great room, then laughed out loud.

"So I am not the only one too excited to sleep tonight."

"Apparently not, my friend," Cesare managed a smile at him. _Go to bed, already, we have things to discuss, here._

"A few hours to the rest of our lives. Goodnight to you all, then."

"Goodnight, Diego," Lucrezia smiled at him and spoke for her two men, who each gave him their silent nods. At the bottom of the landing Micheletto waited for Diego to disappear from sight, and then to hear the close of his bedroom door.

"Alright, then—to the back porch for a drink, yes?" Micheletto suggested when the coast was clear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So he said nothing?" From Cesare.

"He never even had an audience with Ovando; the dancing was lively, and so too, the music; it was not a night for politics—upon the ballroom floor."

"Elsewhere, of course," Lucrezia smiled her intrigue at him.

"Of course. The Governor's very private quarters; trying to encourage investors in the gold trade here—a fruitless endeavor, as he has it planned, and brought to his attention by a _Taíno_ chieftain, whom he happily had murdered."

"I don't understand..."

"There is gold here, Lucrezia, but no true gold mines that will yield any real profit; many natives have been killed over that fact, alone—greed and misunderstanding—and a total lack of caring for any accountability. Blood will continue to flow here—innocent blood, more than anything else."

"As is always the way of things, it seems," came her disgusted reply.

"So then Diego was no threat; I did not have to worry with him at all, really—it was Dorotea that kept him drinking and dancing, and distracted from having any coherent audience with anyone or anything but his over-flowing goblet of wine."

Cesare and Lucrezia both shared a conspiratorial and appreciative chuckle over their Dorotea; but it was short-lived, as her thoughts went back to what the fast-approaching sunrise meant for them all. Without another word she got up from her seat and left the two men abruptly.

"You've not worked out a truce between you, I take it?"

Cesare gave Micheletto a sour look.

"I see."

"She will not listen to me...will not give me the chance..." Cesare reached his hand across the table for Micheletto's, but Micheletto withdrew it quickly from beyond his grasp.

"No."

"What?"

"Cesare Borgia, I will tell you now what I told you so long ago: I am clear about my feelings—for you both—and there needs to be clarity for the both of you, as well; I will not have our pleasure at the expense of hers."

"What? So now everyone must feel unloved?"

Micheletto found Cesare's little outburst to be almost comical; a little boy throwing a tantrum over his favorite toys, snatched up to be locked away; that's what he was at that moment; almost comical, but not enough to laugh at; for his selfish endeavors and the rush to his own happiness had wrought the foreseeable and inevitable predicament that he had forced them all into.

"No one here is unloved, most especially, you. Fix it all, Cesare; or simply fix what you can—with Lucrezia, first and foremost." With that Micheletto left him.

Cesare found that, as ever, there had been no rebuke or unkindness in Micheletto's voice, but he felt the sting of his words acutely, nevertheless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn arrived much too quickly for Lucrezia and Dorotea; as Diego promised, Dorotea found no respite in sleep, but he also promised that a newly installed and sumptuous bunk outfitted for a queen awaited her on the _Rosa Bianca_. Neither Cesare or Micheletto had gone to bed, which was an activity they were much accustomed to. Only Lucrezia laid her head down upon her pillow for a few brief hours before they were to set sail.

By sunrise the two families were assembled at the port, saying their goodbyes as their belongings were being loaded onto their separate ships.

"We shall make it a point, Lucrezia to see each other at least every Christmas, a standing tradition between us, yes?" Dorotea proclaimed through her delicate tears.

"Wherever in this world that we may be," Lucrezia replied through a strong hug, "Wherever we may be..."

"Yes..."

The men were busy supervising the deck hands but eventually the time came for them all to board their caravels; Lucrezia looked around the bustling port and saw an influx of new slaves, whom her heart went out to; new colonists, whom she did not envy in the least; and the multitudinous traders and merchants loading and unloading their own wares; she would miss none of it other than her _Taíno_ servants, whom she had come to love and would miss, and fear for under continued Spanish rule.

"The time has come my love..." Diego said as he approached the two women with Cesare and Micheletto at his side. A last round of kisses and hugs between the women and their rosy-cheeked cherubs ensued, then more tears. Finally they were herded away, waving at each across the decks of their ships, moored beside each other, Lucrezia port-side and Dorotea, starboard; Dorotea gave a final wave and the blow of a kiss before she disappeared with Maria to lay her tired bones down upon her bunk below.

"And so now into another unknown," Lucrezia mumbled at no one in particular before she wiped away her tears and gathered Rodrigo and Giovanni, then headed below to her own cabin, where Fati Ba had already provisioned a waiting supply of ginger root and focaccia bread.

Cesare and Micheletto stood silently as they watched her go and then turned their attention to the river leading to the open sea.

"I would go and see after her, but she still has no words for me," Cesare said as he stared doggedly ahead. Just then a mate interrupted them, with a map in hand and a question.

"I'll leave it to you then, and go see about her, hmm?"

Cesare turned and looked his friend in his loving blue eyes. "Thank you, Micheletto."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a knock upon her cabin door.

 _And still he tries to make his case with me. Damn him._ "Go away, Cesare," she called out her irritation at him.

"It is Micheletto."

_Micheletto?_

"Are you feeling alright? May I come in?"

"Yes...certainly...come in..." Lucrezia sat up to receive him; Rodrigo was asleep beside her and Giovanni was taken up with Princess on his own bunk nearby.

" _Tio_ Micheletto!" Giovanni jumped up to give the man a hug.

"Shh, Giovanni, we don't want to wake your brother..."

"Sorry, mama..."

"Let _Tio_ Micheletto settle you back upon your bunk, yes? Princess misses you..."

"Yes, mama."

Micheletto settled the boy and gave a kiss to the top of his head before he joined Lucrezia.

"Are you feeling sea-sick?"

"Amazingly, no; but I have my remedies at the ready."

"It is a short voyage; maybe, hopefully, you will feel no ill effects at all; you are a seasoned traveler, after all."

"I can only hope, Micheletto."

"May I sit? And may we speak, Lucrezia? About the thing that aggrieves you most at this time?"

"Parting from my Dorotea, you mean?"

Micheletto found her evasive strategy cunning and dropped his head, in what Lucrezia thought, was a proprietous show of respect, resignation, and resolve to let sleeping dogs lie; but when he raised his head and smiled at her, she knew instantly that she had read him most-incorrectly.

"Yes, Micheletto, please sit."

He took his seat on the edge of her bunk. "Cesare told me what you said before you left Italy; that you knew that I loved him. How did you know that?"

Lucrezia gave an unbelieving look at him, but found that she was not truly offended by his directness at her. _As is your way, right into it then? Alright..._ "Because you looked at him, often, as if with my own eyes, Micheletto."

"How did that make you feel?"

His question caught her by surprise, but her answer came honestly and unchecked. "Curiously...quite detached, at first, I think; they way I had felt about all of Cesare's lovers." Lucrezia looked over at Giovanni to make sure that he was still engrossed in play with Princess and lowered her voice as she went on. "I used to watch him, you know, when I was a little girl; before I knew what it all really meant—I knew what he was doing, basically—but not that his women were...were..."

"Substitutes for you."

Lucrezia gave that a thought and then looked her honest question at him first before she spoke again. "But were they all, Micheletto? The Tigress wasn't; Charlotte certainly wasn't."

"But you did not see him with them, hmm?"

"No, but I heard firsthand how enamored of them he was; Caterina because she was his equal; Charlotte because she was independent and practical about her desires, like a man—"

"No...like a French woman, yes?"

They both laughed lightly.

"No, like a man and therefore his equal, as well."

"Do you not feel as his equal?"

"As a Borgia, yes: a murderer; a plotter; as a negotiator; as an ambassador to this family when my father was alive—a worthy Borgia sibling? Most definitely. As a woman? No. I do not. Even though I am a woman in my own right; a woman with children of my own...but with Cesare...I always feel like the little girl he fell in love with and did his best to protect...from the cruelties of our particular world; a love that grew into the obsession you see before you now."

"Obsession? You doubt his love?"

"I do not. I simply still feel like a little girl...in my own head."

"You do not behave as such—you are a woman through and through, Lucrezia, and Cesare loves you thus; he will love you when you are both old and grey."

"And where is your grey head in such a future, Micheletto?"

"Nearby and at peace, if God deems it to be so. And you."

There was another knock upon her door.

" _Doña Ramirez_ , I come to take Giovanni to...galley..." It was Fati Ba, speaking the foreign word carefully through the door.

"We shall have to rename ourselves soon, I think...a moment, Micheletto..."

Micheletto stood up to allow Lucrezia her careful exit off of the bunk as she tried not to rouse Rodrigo; she opened the door and then readied Giovanni to go and have a proper breakfast; she sent him off with a kiss, then took her careful place back upon her bunk.

"What is it about women, Micheletto, that you do not like?" she asked when he took his seat again.

Her abrupt change of subject, while amusing, took him aback nonetheless; she was like her brother, the way her mind moved from one thought to the next; Micheletto knew that he would learn her rhythm, just as he had with Cesare, and that one day their very thoughts would seem as one, where words would be few and almost unnecessary.

"I like women. I loved my mother—and yours; I love you."

"I mean carnally."

"I would not say that I do not like women carnally..I simply enjoy men better...in that way."

"You have been with women?"

"Yes."

"But you like men better...why? What is it about men, then, that is so much more desirable? And when did you know this about yourself? At what age?"

"I knew it as a child..."

"As a child? You had carnal relations as—"

"No, of course not. I was enamored of someone...like you were...with Djem."

"Ah...Djem; he was so handsome; so other-worldly; his culture so barbaric; but he was so gallant," a blush rose to her cheeks at Djem's memory. "He was so tender with me; so unlike the husband he described himself as, who could kill any of his many wives as he pleased; I admit that he was the first man that I had such feelings for, that made my heart race and my cheeks burn red at the thought of having him lavish upon me the attentions that Cesare lavished upon his lovers...he was so tender with me..." she repeated wistfully, thinking back to their little _tête-à-tête_ in the loggia off from her father's office at the Vatican, listening in on the round of suitors vying for her hand during the consideration of her first marriage. "I felt so sinful..." Lucrezia blushed anew.

Micheletto gave a little tweak to her nose and brought a smile to her face. "And so, I too, had just such an experience."

"With a man..." she smiled sweetly at him as she came fully out of her little reverie and gave him her full attention again.

"Yes, with a man."

"I called Giovanni's father 'Narcissus'..." Another sweet blush accompanied an ever sweeter smile as she looked away from him and into the distance; just as quickly it faded as she dropped her head slightly then gave a quiet little harrumph at herself.

The abrupt change of subject threw Micheletto again, not amusing at all, at that moment, as his heart broke a little along with her own; she had truly loved the boy, and he had truly loved her. _Damn you, Juan._ He said nothing as he waited patiently for her to come back to herself.

"My Narcissus. He was so beautiful; his soul was beautiful. But he was no Narcissus, for he loved me—and I looked nothing like him, hmm? Was the man you fell in love with at so young an age your Narcissus, Micheletto? Was he as beautiful as yourself?"

"More. Much more. And I think that I know what you are getting at. My attraction to him had nothing to do with his looks in that manner; it was the exquisite sameness of his general male physique—you've seen such specimens, on Grecian urns depicting the Olympians at play in their games..."

"Oh, my...he must have been quite something, indeed..."

"He was; and the curve of his muscular thighs...the hardness of his rippled torso...did to me what the swell of a woman's breast breast does to most other men. Do you understand?"

"As a woman would, most certainly...as a man..."

"You do not understand."

"As a man I would dare to say yes—I could feel the same, especially since I've seen such intrigue with my own eyes."

Micheletto raised an eyebrow at her.

"As I've told you, I've a long history of voyeurism, Micheletto; I saw you and Cesare together..." Lucrezia thought back to that morning long before, and of herself crouched atop the stairs watching the two of them kissing. "Yes..I can understand."

"And when was this?"

"The morning that you came home to us. I watched you two share a kiss as sweet and full of love as any that Cesare has ever given me."

"You were not repulsed?"

"How could I be, Micheletto? I was looking upon a beautiful thing—two people in love."

"Honestly?"

"Yes. And just as honestly...I was hurt."

"Lucrezia..."

"Do not apologize. It was going to happen one way or another, Micheletto, aside from the right or wrong of me and my brother—even I cannot hold Cesare. It was a hard lesson, but I am glad that I finally learned it."

"You are wrong, Lucrezia, you are first and last in his heart, and everything in between. I know that; I've always known it; I would never dare to try and usurp you."

"And that is why you have, dear Micheletto—you are both men."

Micheletto looked his confusion at her.

"One thing that took me a long time to learn about men—they never want to be told to do a thing: not cajoled; begged—and God forbid, not nagged; not expected, really; they don't want to be asked, at all; they want to do all things as they will, in their own good time, ever in command, whether it be of their destiny...or their heart. In the meanwhile, we women must wait them out; we must show them, simply, that we need them—all that they really require of us. I learned that with Cesare quite innocently, for he was my hero in all things, all of my life, and was so very easy to need...

"And then I learned that such a tactic could be abused by a woman, in order to hasten getting what she wants, thinking herself masterfully cunning, when all that she is really being is treacherous—and treacheries carry great punishment once they are discovered, do they not?"

A sure bitterness had crept into Lucrezia's soft voice then; a single tear rolled down her cheek with all of the luminescence of an exquisitely cut, yet tiny diamond before it vanished into the fabric of her fine burgundy silk bodice, which absorbed it as an accomplice who pulls a friend quickly out of harm's way into hiding and safe harbor.

"Another harsh lesson, Micheletto, that I learned much to late to employ with my many husbands and have it do me any good—or save them from death."

"Those deaths were well-deserved, Lucrezia, you are much too hard on yourself."

"Two of them, maybe, Micheletto. But I digress—no matter one's better intent, whose heart can truly be held forever?"

Micheletto had no answer for her.

"You see? You know that I am right."

"I know the capacity of your heart. And Cesare's. And my own, Lucrezia."

"Oh," she gave a little snort of disgust at him, "not that, Micheletto. Extraordinary people, their hearts abound—you and Cesare, where your hearts are concerned? I cannot possibly keep up."

"And you think, sitting here, speaking these things to me as you are, that you are not a woman grown? In your head, as well as of stature?"

"I am simply living this thing called my own life, Micheletto."

"Make no mistake about yourself, my Lady—you are most extraordinary."

"Not enough for you."

"Are you sure of that?"

"How could I not be? You do not want me in such a way."

"Again, I ask you—are you sure of that?"

"But..."

"I have wondered about you, Lucrezia, make no mistake about that."

She gave him a look of pure disbelief.

"The only woman I've ever dared to wonder such things about, that did not end with accompanying and satisfying thoughts of murder."

Lucrezia could not believe what her ears were hearing, on so many accounts. _Surely I am not hearing this—did he murder them, then? Could not one or two have been...simply experiments in love? Lust? A curiosity satisfied? I can imagine some poor girl in a swoon over him, crushed to find out that she would never be able to cast her womanly spell over him..._

"Were there many of these women?" It was the only question she dared to give voice to.

"Many women...faceless...nameless—now, as well as then."

"And what happened to them? The trail of broken hearts must be a long one..." Her pulse was racing and her question was a nervous one.

"No...no broken hearts—broken necks, surely."

Lucrezia let out an involuntary and choked little gasp of a chuckle, horrified at herself that she found humor in his words, at all.

"And I would murder you, Lucrezia Borgia, in a completely other and most exquisite manner—if only you would dare to allow yourself the pleasure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Diego is singing the Catalan/Spanish Madrigal "Dindirin", written anonymously sometime during the Renaissance period and popular with the Spanish colonialists. It is the last verse that translates in English as:
> 
> "Nightengale, oh nightengale,  
> do this errand for me,  
> tell my lover  
> that I am already married! Din-di-rin-din."


	5. A Completely Other Circumstance

Lucrezia's cheeks reddened at the man seated on the bunk facing her, who had a look on his face that she had never seen directed at her before—was it desire that she saw in his eyes? Her disbelief, and even more, her anger, would not allow her to process fully such a foreign prospect.

"He sent you," she said under her breath, doing well not to alarm Giovanni with the outburst she truly wanted to level at Micheletto, "he sent you pave the way...for this...arrangement...so intent upon having his way—and you've complied with him!"

"Lucrezia, I have not," Micheletto whispered back at her, equally cognizant of the little lad so near to them. "It is not my intent to influence you in such a way; only to give you something to think about as you struggle to...find words for your beloved...with your Cesare. Do not doubt that he remains yours. I do not."

"I can honestly tell you, Micheletto, that I no longer know what to think anymore—of either of you!"

"And I know next, then, what you are about to say, Lucrezia, and so I will go." Micheletto rose up from the bunk, anxious not to remain the cause of her upset a moment longer.

" _Tio_ Micheletto! Princess knows a new trick—come see!" Giovanni called out excitedly to the man he knew as his uncle, anxious to have his attention after waiting patiently to ask for it.

"I'm sorry, little Prince, you were not forgotten, but your mama and I are done talking—please show me? Maybe your mama will even let me take you both to galley, yes?" Micheletto looked back at Lucrezia.

"Yes, Giovanni, go with _Tio_ Micheletto, I'm sure that you and Princess both need to stretch your legs, and then you will come back and enjoy a nap."

"Yes, mama! Thank you, mama!" The boy scrambled down carefully from his bunk and raced over to give his mother a sweet, wet kiss upon her cheek after she rose up to give him her hug.

"Be good—and be careful."

"Yes, mama!" Giovanni took Micheletto by a finger within the grasp of his small hand and led him away. "Come, Princess!" he called to the beauty lazing on his bunk, who looked to be very happy where she was.

"Go, Princess, go with Giovanni."

At Lucrezia's loving command the dog bolted from the bed, onto the floor and then left with her charges. Seconds later Rodrigo began to stir from his own slumber, needing a change of his clout and to be fed; Lucrezia, happily gave herself over to his attention, and put both Micheletto and Cesare as far out of her mind as she could manage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By week's end they had reached the northwestern coast of Hispaniola and were within sight of the very few haciendas that dotted the hillsides along the Gulf of Guanabo. As their short journey neared its end Lucrezia stood on deck with the children anxious to get to port and off of the caravel. The sun was just rising in the morning sky and she wondered if sunset would find them sleeping in real beds on fresh linens; she certainly hoped so. She'd had few words for Cesare or Micheletto during their short trip, but the sight of land made it impossible to hide her relief or leave it unexpressed.

"I know not how anyone could find life at sea to be a desirable one," she muttered to neither man in particular as they flanked her and the children, watching the harbor grow within sight. Cesare and Micheletto looked over her head at each other, neither daring to answer her.

Cesare smiled his silent compassion above her and over at Micheletto; he understood her dislike of the sea, but he found sailing to be almost exhilarating, even the danger of it; ultimately, a life at sea, such as Diego Ramirez seemed to crave, for instance, was not an ideal prospect for him, either, but it was a necessary means to an end, certainly, and, as such, an endeavor that excited him.

Micheletto felt very much as Lucrezia did, although his own wanderlust, which had once been at issue, had been easily and happily accommodated within the confines of Italy's terra firma; he understood, well, a woman's need for the stability of home and hearth and admired her bravery for leaving Italy at all; still, he suspected that there was the great possibility that Hispaniola would not be the place to offer what she desired most, and that the end of their travels was not truly at hand. He returned Cesare's tentative smile with only his own silent grimace.

"And so, who is it that you are to see here, Cesare? Where exactly is it that we will now be living?" Lucrezia frowned into the distance, for the haciendas they had seen far off from shore were few and looked impossible to breach through the vast, lush hillsides. Though she addressed her brother she refused to lay eyes upon him, still miffed and undone that their freedom to be together had actually become a completely other circumstance.

Cesare's joy at his sister speaking to him at all was quickly and effectively doused as he realized that her anger had only been reduced to a quiet, slow boil. "Don Matias Cortez. He should be here to greet us and show us on our way. I know that you're anxious to feel land beneath your feet, but Micheletto and I must go and find him before we disembark properly; I suggest that you and the children go back below and wait for us—we shouldn't be too long, sis."

As Lucrezia turned to go a loud, heavily-accented, convivial voice issued forth at them all from the dock.

"Permission to come aboard?"

Lucrezia turned back around to find that it belonged a tallish, smiling man accompanied by several _Taíno_ natives who remained on the pier as he strode up the gangplank.

"Don Cortez?"

"Don Ramirez?"

Cesare nodded as he held out his hand for the man to shake. "Yes, so happy to meet you, good sir."

"And I, you," the man smiled. "You have the look of a man who thinks he's been forgotten—worry not, my friend, I am a little late and I apologize, there was some trouble on the road here, that's all. Welcome to Tortuga!"

"And thank you—nothing serious, I hope?"

"A few ruts in the wet road...damaged a spoke on the wheel of one of our carriages, is all; it is fixed now and ready to aid with your transport. You must forgive us here, our roads are not as hospitable as those you are accustomed to in Santo Domingo."

Cesare nodded his understanding.

"I understand that you are all originally from the World? Italy, was it?"

Lucrezia and Micheletto both watched as Cesare bristled immediately at the man's question; even if his interest was innocent it was still unwelcomed, but they both noted that Cesare did well to mask his initial irritation.

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Ah, I have never been to Italy but would like to visit someday; we've two families of Italian colonists here, and they way they speak of Italy—I know not why they even decided to leave it."

"I think that the never-ending Italian wars might have something to do with it," Cesare offered. "Our people came originally from Spain." That truth he honored. "Barcelona. It was my grandfather who left for Italy and established his line with the aid of our Tuscan grandmother," he lied effortlessly.

"Tuscany! I have heard much about its beauty—and fine wines. I myself am from Andalusia; and was enjoined in service as a _Conquistador_ under the Spanish Crown; my hacienda is the reward for my labors and my happy home, now; I hope that you will all find the same happiness here that I have been blessed to find."

"Thank you, Don Cortez, your well-wishes are most-appreciated. This is the rest of my family, my—"

"Cousin," Lucrezia interrupted her brother boldly as she stepped forward to greet the man, "Giovanna Ramirez," she gave a demure bow of her head at the man.

Cortez longed to take her lovely hand and kiss the back of it, but in one arm she held a baby and the other hand was firmly possessed by a handsome little boy. "My sons," Lucrezia beamed proudly at him, "Giovanni and Digo. Say hello to Don Cortez, Giovanni."

"Hello, sir." Giovanni held out his hand as his uncle had and waited for the man to shake it.

"Well, hello, Don Ramirez! What a fine little gentleman you are!"

Cortez transferred his delighted smile from Giovanni to Lucrezia who saw a question lurking beneath it and in his eyes; she looked at her brother to find his eyes full of quiet fury.

"We shall not bore you with genealogy today, Don Ramirez," Lucrezia continued, "only to finally introduce you, now, to our cousin, Miguel Ramirez."

Cesare noted, quite angrily, how pleased Cortez appeared to be at the confirmation that Micheletto was also a cousin and not a husband, and the man's wider smile at Lucrezia caused Cesare's hands to ball into fists at his sides.

Micheletto stepped forward then and shook the man's hand. "Don Cortez," he nodded at him.

"Don Ramirez. My pleasure."

Micheletto gave another respectful nod in reply and reveled in the fact that the man was visibly unnerved at his silent and unyielding demeanor, and probably surprised at being intimidated by, what he obviously thought, was a cripple dependent upon his waking stick; the smile on the man's face became even more nervous and hard to hold under Micheletto's continued and grim glare.

"Uh, yes, then," Cortez turned back to Cesare, "I have brought help to assist you with unloading your ship and helping to get you settled in your new home."

"Very good, Don Cortez, between your hands and ours I think we shall have an easy go of it."

And so the task began in earnest to unload their few belongings from the ship onto the three carts, three carriages and a good dozen spare horses; Cesare settled with his Captain, who had been hired for the single voyage; and the Harbourmaster, to whom he paid the necessary funds to secure mooring and maintenance costs for his ship; two hours later they were headed on their way from the port and to the hillside.

Cesare and Micheletto rode in the first carriage with Don Cortez; Lucrezia's carriage held her, the boys, Fati Ba and two other of her female servants; the third carriage held more belongings as all of the other men in the Ramirez party rode the extra horses; the Taíno men with Don Cortez held up the rear and their flank on foot. Just over an hour later they came to the mouth of a creek stocked with an array of small, narrow boats, similar in length to gondolas but wider, with more room to carry cargo as well as people.

"Surely you have seen a canoe before, _La Doña_?" Cortez asked Lucrezia as she looked on uneasily as the men began to load them up.

"No, I haven't, Don Cortez, although I have ridden once or twice in a gondola."

"Then do not worry yourself, it is very much the same; the creek is the only way to the hillside; you will love your hacienda, it faces the ocean."

"Well, that does sound lovely. What about the horses?"

"We will leave these here; two horses and two donkeys await you at your property."

"I see."

"Just a little while longer and we shall be on on our way," Cortez smiled broadly at her, "We will be at your hacienda long before nightfall." He left her then to join Micheletto and supervise his men and Cesare's, to properly secure the loads.

"'Cousin', Lucrezia?'" Cesare hissed at her under his breath after he approached and stood next to her side.

"Giovanni calls you and Micheletto both 'uncle'—it is much better to let that remain the case than to try and coach him to remember a difficult lie. So, not _husband_...certainly not _husband_." Lucrezia whispered back at him, being careful to maintain a pleasant look on her face.

"And why not? You've all but given him permission to woo and bed you, although I doubt that he has any true interest in the wooing..." Cesare concluded with a disgusted snort.

"And what should it matter to you, brother?"

"So, that _was_ your intent," he huffed at her. "You don't even know this man."

"You've made arrangements to be happy in your bed—why should I not do the same with my own? And keep your voice down."

"I've already told you, Lucrezia, what my true intent is where you're concerned, for your pleasure as well as my own."

"Well, this is neither the time or place to re-visit that argument..."

"When, then? You've not spoken a full sentence to me in more days than I can remember—"

"Well, I suppose that shall be tonight, after we've chosen our separate bedrooms and before we shall retire to them."

"You would, wouldn't you? Bed this man? As he's made clear that he would you..."

"I don't know what you are so upset about, brother, he's being chivalrous, I believe—you do remember chivalry, do you not? And anyway, I was merely thinking on my feet. And congratulations to you, as well, on the revisionist history of our origins—bravo."

"Do not try and change the subject—you would do it...to spite me." The smug look on his sister's face was answer enough for him. "If we weren't surrounded by people right now I would surely take you over my knee for being the ridiculous little imp that you are!"

"You wouldn't dare—you forget that I am a woman—not a child."

"What I see before me is most-definitely a child."

"And that is exactly the problem between us—amongst others." Lucrezia pushed him away from herself as Fati Ba approached with Rodrigo and Giovanni.

"They have both had a little to eat, _La Doña_."

"Very good, Fati Ba, it looks as if we may be almost ready to go, now." Lucrezia noticed Micheletto watching them, silent; expressionless; giving nothing away to anyone and so menacing with it; then she noted that everyone appeared to be waiting on them, or at least for a break in their quite but intense little conversation.

"Is everything alright, may I ask?" Don Cortez asked as he approached them. "I assure you, _La Doña_ , the creek is a gentle one, nothing to worry about, at all."

"Thank you, Don Cortez, I shall take my ease in your confidence and direction."

"Allow me?" Cortez held out his elbow for Lucrezia to take and then escorted her to her canoe and its guide.

Soon everyone was boarded and they set off, with Don Cortez, Cesare and Micheletto in the lead canoe, followed by Lucrezia, the boys and Fati Ba and then ten more canoes behind her carrying the rest of their party and their belongings.

The men ahead were in serious conversation that Lucrezia could not hear well and so she concentrated on taking in the soothing sounds and verdant lushness surrounding her as she held tight to Rodrigo in one arm, her other about Giovanni. She had so many questions: was the jade green water safe if you fell in accidentally? Was the river safe to swim in, in general, or were there sharp-toothed or poisonous creatures waiting to help you meet your end? Her thoughts went back to her first time in Naples, and the King that Micheletto had put out of her misery by committing him to the lake of deadly lamprey eels—were such creatures in the water she was gliding upon then?

What kind of ghastly trees was she looking at? That reminded her of furry tarantulas, only preposterously larger, and greener, swaying in the gentle breeze low enough that she felt that they were alive and endeavoring to try and reach down and snatch her up out of the canoe. The frightening visuals in her head were so at odds with the peaceful, almost charming sounds of the gentle river and the musical birds, as economical with their singing as Micheletto was with his words. She wanted to inquire of the guide, but she chided herself over the fact that she was not on a tour; she was heading to her new home. And then she spied something, high in some of the other trees that soared above her, that did not look like a giant spider trying to consume her, but held a different terror for her, that caused her to shriek.

"What is that! Moving in the trees up there? Is it stalking us?"

The _Taíno_ guide in her canoe looked up to where she was pointing, as did everyone when they heard her squeal.

" _La Doña_ , it's alright, those are only sloths—they are harmless! As with most beasts, you leave them alone, they leave you alone," Don Cortez called back to her.

It was little consolation to Lucrezia but she clamped her mouth shut and tried to compose herself; her eyes traveled back down the length of the tree, scanning for such creatures in the lower branches when they finally became rooted on a low hanging vine that they were slowly passing by; her eyes adjusted more to the lovely, yellow-green gnarled mess when she realized that what she was looking at was not a tiny little vine swaying in the breeze, but something slithering toward the outermost length of the actual vine it was coiled around and camouflaged by.

"Snakes? Snakes in the trees!" she shrieked alarmingly enough to set Rodrigo to crying.

Cesare almost slipped and called her out by her real name but caught himself. "Lu—look away from the trees, Giovanna, just keep your eyes trained within the canoe—it's really alright—calm yourself, my love..." He wanted to jump out of his canoe and go to her but he saw Fati Ba take her in hand and do what he could not, as she soothed Lucrezia and Rodrigo both. Little Giovanni's eyes caught his and he smiled at the boy as he nodded his approval at him and mouthed "It's alright." Giovanni, still stricken by his mother's outburst, managed to nod back; Cesare gave him a big smile then and another nod of reassurance.

"Shall I? Cousin?" It was Micheletto's gruff, almost angry voice that came at Cesare then, offering his intent to jump back into Lucrezia's canoe and comfort her, for Cesare had been in discussion then with Don Cortez about the honest difficulties of milling lumber in the area.

"Would you, cousin? Thank you."

Micheletto waited for their canoe to slow down and for Lucrezia's to come closer and easily, if carefully, stepped from the stern of his to the bow of hers; Fati Ba moved with Giovanni to allow him his seat beside her.

"What is this horrid place that we've come to, Mi—Miguel? I thought that it would be like Santo Domingo, if only less inhabited—this is a jungle!" Lucrezia shivered as Micheletto took her into his strong, reassuring embrace. "I'm sorry to be so...so...such a cowardly thing—you must find me completely contemptible, at this moment." Lucrezia's shame was evident in the dejected slope of her shoulders against him.

"I do not, little sister; you are in a foreign land, so very different than anything you've ever known; you are allowed to be a woman on this occasion, instead of the warrior, I think." Micheletto hugged her tighter to him.

_If only my brother understood the same about me_...Lucrezia lamented silently; she sank into Micheletto then, grateful for his sensitivity and not as surprised by it as she thought she should have been. She became aware of him suddenly, holding her as he was, and that such intimacy had never been shared by them before.

_What must we look like? What are we doing?_ As much as she wanted to linger in his embrace she felt guilty for wanting to do so; Lucrezia comported herself and slowly drew away from him, but not before she heard his whisper at her.

"So, you feel something, as well, then? Or am I alone in this strange and glorious sensation? Cousin?"

Just as they separated from each other Don Cortez and Cesare turned back to them.

Lucrezia looked at Cesare, whose worried look mirrored her own; he gave her a hopeful smile to which she acquiesced and returned; his smile of relief at her next was as a ray of light shining her way, and only after it did he turn around and continue his conversation with Cortez.

Beside her, Micheletto was quiet and still. She wanted to turn to face him, say something— but had no idea where to begin with any words; she dared only to quickly cut a shy glance at him and, just as quickly, she cast it away to her hands clasped in her lap; she questioned that she had actually heard what she thought she heard him say, at all.

_I was frightened and he comforted me, that is all. He wants Cesare and Cesare wants him; it has all changed and I must be consistent where Cesare is not. Micheletto likes men. Little sister; cousin—I am little sister! In spite of everything, we shall always be great friends, that's all!_

Just then she felt one of Micheletto's hands upon hers; he raised one to his lips and gave the back of it a sweet kiss, then placed it back upon the other at her lap, never once taking his eyes away from the river before them.

" _La Doña!_ "

Lucrezia was wrenched out of her newest shock at the sound of the excited voice issuing at her.

"Just around the bend there—only a mile more and you shall have your comfort!" Don Cortez called happily back to her.


	6. What Happened In The Canoe Today?

Finally the party reached the edge of the riverbank that would lead them to their new home.

Micheletto had remained silently by Lucrezia's side, relieved to have unburdened himself with the truth of his desire for her; he had been intent on not pressing the matter further, and would wait patiently for her truest response—the only response he wanted—in her own time, when she was ready to give it. In the meantime there were other immediate matters to see to. Micheletto took her hand into his again and gave the back of it a stealthy but sweet little kiss before he rose up to help the other men with the mooring of the canoes as Cesare and Don Cortez approached to help Lucrezia, Fati Ba and the children out of their own.

" _La Doña_ , just a little bit further," Don Cortez smiled at Lucrezia as he helped her to the ground, "you will find that your hacienda is already stocked with a few staple provisions to last until there is need for your cousins to come back to port and garner more; there are beds, modest, but comfortable, and your servants quarters are equipped in the same fashion."

Lucrezia tore her gaze away from Don Cortez' brilliant smile at her to look at her brother, who had just set his excited nephew upon the ground; Giovanni's own eyes were wide with wonder—and just a touch of fear, which was no wonder to his mother.

_My gallant little man; my own little Prince; how many times has your mama uprooted you? A world traveler you are, already, and you're only five years old. My little love, I'd like to promise you that this place will truly be home, at last—but even I am unsure as to whether I should dare to do such a thing...or to even hope for it within my own self; the fear in your eyes is certainly the fault of that in my own, registered at you for the whole of the trip along this most-strange river..._

"We're almost home, Giovanni; hold Princess by her leash, there, good and tight, hmm? You follow our lead and she will follow yours...you must keep her comforted as we go, for she needs you to be her master in all things, at this moment, yes? Just give me a reassuring nod?" Cesare coaxed the boy's silent compliance. "Very good," he nodded back at his nephew.

Giovanni's new task had, quite effectively, banished the fearful look in his eyes, which was replaced then with the desire to make his uncle proud of him and receive his reward—which was always a firm pat upon his little shoulder, a stern nod of approval, and then a barrage of loving hugs and kisses.

In that moment, as in so many others, Lucrezia's heart melted for Cesare. What a wonder he was; such a wonderful father; if only he could have been blessed to have his Louise in his life, she silently lamented. He was so good with Giovanni and Rodrigo—and how was that even possible? Both children had been conceived with other men she had once truly loved, but none more than the man her eyes were then looking upon; it was always a wonder to her that he didn't hate her little bastards. Of course, Rodrigo's true paternity was still actually a question; it was sure to be answered in time but she knew that it would not change an iota of Cesare's love for the boy either way.

Suddenly, Lucrezia didn't understand at all how and why she and Cesare were at odds with each other; could only berate herself for the foolishness of her actions and her anger against him; he loved her; her loved her children—so what if he loved Micheletto, too? What had really changed between them?

She became aware that Don Cortez' intrigued gaze was upon her as she watched her "cousin" comforting her son out of his seeming upset, and who had taken the look in her eyes at Cesare to be nothing more than familial appreciation. What Lucrezia really wanted to do was run to her brother, wrap her arms around him and apologize...and bestow the sweetest, deepest kiss upon his lips that she could muster.

_Look up at me, Cesare, please, and see my love for you, that has not died...will never die..."_ Lucrezia pleaded at him silently. She got her partial wish, for when Cesare did look up his gaze went beyond her, trained openly and angrily then upon Don Cortez, looming over her covetously, like a dog with a meaty new bone.

"Brother—" It was Micheletto at Cesare's side then, speaking low as he pulled his friend gently aside. "Not much longer, now, before he will be gone away from us; hold your temper and put your scowl away—we're much too close to our privacy to be arousing any further suspicions about us now..."

"Suspicions of what? She has certainly given no indication to him that she would not desire to be courted," Cesare hissed back at his friend. "And our privacy? My living torment, you mean; she will not touch me; you will not touch me until I have her favor—I have been a truer celibate these past months more than I ever was as a Prince of the Church!"

"Keep your voice down, Cesare; your blue balls should not rule your truer head at this moment, hmm?" Micheletto smirked at him.

"Is this a joke to you? I find nothing amusing here."

"Nor do I, but calm yourself, nevertheless; we're on dry land; we have a home to retire to; we will work out our differences—let us get to it without you coming to blows with this man, for I see your hand there, itching at your hilt."

"Indeed," Cesare harrumphed at his friend.

Lucrezia had distracted Don Cortez from the heated conversation going on between Cesare and Micheletto by calling Giovanni over to her, kneeling down to his level and making a show of going over the finer points of handling Princess on her leash.

"And that's all there is to it, my love—soon your uncle will be showing you the same, but with a horse."

"A horse, mama? A real horse?"

"A real horse, my love," she smiled at him.

"And so we look forward to that day, Don Ramirez, for I would like to be present to cheer you on," Don Cortez grinned down at the boy.

"Thank you, my Lord."

"Ah—your are no longer in Italy, dear boy—please, with your dear mother's permission, call me Don Matias and I shall be honored to call you Don Giovanni."

Giovanni and Don Cortez both looked to Lucrezia.

"Of course, Don Cortez, that would be fine." She gave Giovannia kiss to his forehead and then rose up to standing.

"Wonderful—ah...it looks as if we are ready to move out..."

"What? I thought the horses and donkey might be brought here, to help with the transport?"

"Ah, _La Doña_ , the way from here is level and the distance is short—the men will hoist the canoes to transport your items," Don Cortez supplied.

Lucrezia turned back to see her "cousins" busy with directing their hands at lightening the load on some of the canoes in preparation, at last, to head away from the riverbank.

"How economical," she muttered in amazement as the first of the canoes began to be carried past her.

"A useful custom that we have learned from the natives. Come, let us be on our way—may I?" Don Cortez held out his arm for her escort.

Lucrezia did not dare to look at her brother as he passed by her, but she did not need to, for she felt his displeasure emanating at her through the blur in the corner of her eyes as he passed quickly by the pair of them.

"No need to rush, now, Don Ramirez, you shall tire yourself out unnecessarily!" Don Cortez called out his concern to the hot rush of wind that blew past him, otherwise known as Cesare Borgia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The walk was as swift as it was pleasant, with Don Cortez explaining the lay of the land to Lucrezia and giving her information as to the proximity of her neighbors; soon they were out of the depth of the jungle and came upon a cobbled stone path, the length of which was covered by a sturdy, narrow wood-beamed clay roof; a sharp turn in the path led to a row of adobe buildings, which looked quite weather-beaten but resilient; the front porches were low and only inches above the ground, mere steps away from the covered path.

"Well...this is different—we are here, then?" Lucrezia smiled at Don Cortez.

"No, _La Doña_ , these four buildings are the quarters for your...workers." Don Cortez had easily noticed the lady's kind hand and demeanor with her staff, not unusual with the Italian colonists, therefore he refrained from calling them slaves. "Yes; each building contains eight sleeping rooms, a communal kitchen and a modest great room right off of the front porches, here; in the back are their own gardens, where they may grow cassava and corn and any other harvestables they have time to tend."

"Oh, I see. I would like to inspect them, if you don't mind—we have time, do we not?"

"Cousin—" It was Cesare's irritated voice issuing at her. "My understanding is that we are very near our own quarters and I would like to get there; let us make room for them all at the hacienda tonight and do a proper inspection in the morning, hmm?"

"But I am right here, cousin, I would like to at least look in," Lucrezia challenged him.

"I have still to deposit you and the children, cousin, and then take a tour of the mountain with Don Cortez—I am anxious to be done with that, and long before nightfall," he shot back at her.

"Then go ahead—leave one of the native men to show me and Fati Ba the rest of the way and go about your business as you desire."

Lucrezia's tone at her cousin was a reprimand and a dismissal that both shocked and intrigued Don Cortez; he held his tongue as his eyes, and those of the entire party, followed the verbal volley, now to be returned at her by Cesare.

Micheletto stepped in to save the day—and Cesare's pride.

"Cousin, we really should return with the morning; no one expects our hands to return here this evening, and who knows what lurks within, hmm? You have been frightened badly by one snake today, which set your son to his own uneasy distraction; let us inspect with the full light of morning and an abundant supply of machetes, yes? This is not a Roman inn that were are checking for fresh linens and dust, my love," he smiled at her through his quiet words.

"Snakes, cousin? There are more snakes without these rooms than within, I would hazard."

And with that the standoff came to its end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh! This lovely..."

Another turn under the porticoed path just beyond the last building in the slaves quarters revealed a huge hacienda and a drop across from it that revealed the bay below.

"We are that high up? I don't understand..."

"The river is deceiving, _La Doña_ , but your eyes, at this moment, are not doing the same; it is a gentle incline, but an incline, nonetheless," Don Cortez informed her as he came up behind her. "And up there are the mountains where your cousins will find the lumber that they wish to mill." He took gentle hold of her shoulder and directed her to face North, following the trajectory of his outstretched arm.

"Oh...my..." Lucrezia gasped, awestruck.

"Come, cousin, and let us all get settled at last," Cesare huffed at her as he headed up the walk to the door with Giovanni in tow.

Much to Cesare's chagrin the hour had grown too late to take a proper tour of the mountainside; along with the servants the family Ramirez would also put up Don Cortez for the night so that he and Cesare could go out properly with the following sunrise.

There was more than enough space for everyone, for the hacienda boasted twenty-five rooms within two stories and included a huge kitchen and several great rooms on each floor, she learned from Don Cortez.

"This is the truest inspection you must make, _La Doña_ , for while this structure is fine and sound, there is much to do to truly make this a fitting home for you and your family. You should know that these walls are good and thick and built for temperatures here; we are great fans of the loggia, as you are in Italy and can attest to with your own eyes; our habit here is to move to the top floor in winter, and benefit from the warmth of the sun on the loggia; in the grueling heat of summer we maintain ourselves on the ground floor and enjoy the shade on the patios—you are going to love it here, _La Doña_ , this I firmly promise you."

"Well, if am to love it as much as you say, then I will require some sort of low wall to be built around the front—what is to keep my child from losing himself at play and tumbling down the cliff?"

"Yes, the previous owners had no children and no such worries—there is an easy remedy for that, _La Doña_."

They both looked over at Cesare then, who had just given Giovanni his well-deserved reward for commanding Princess valiantly through the last portion of their journey.

"I shall count on it, Don Cortez."

"And you should also count on an invitation soon to a ball in your honor, you and your cousins; we have the usual holiday celebrations here, but the arrival of new colonists is always a happy excuse to come together and celebrate."

_An excuse to scrutinize the newcomers and add zest to your stale gossip_ , Cesare thought to himself as he listened at the pair of them in disgust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so Lucrezia got busy, attending to one of the things she excelled at: organizing a household. She and Fati Ba toured the rest of the hacienda to take stock of existing supplies; they made lists of others that would be needed; finally, they assigned rooms for everyone in their party.

"It is so lovely here, Fati Ba—there is more than enough space for everyone to just stay here at the main house," Lucrezia brightly recommended later that night before a modest supper was arranged.

Fati Ba was shocked; even in Santo Domingo, as small as their hacienda there had been, the slaves had their own quarters away from the main house.

" _La Doña_ , is that wise? It is not usually done that way..."

"But there is so much space here, Fati Ba..."

"And our quarters are so very near yet also tucked away, _La Doña_ ,I'm sure they are fine—they look finer than any I've ever seen, even better than in Santo Domingo, and I say that meaning no disrespect."

Lucrezia was surprised at Fati Ba's worried expression and the nervous nature of her adamance. "You wouldn't want to stay here, Fati Ba? Do you speak for everyone, then?"

"It is not done, _La Doña_ , and you would not want to bring the ire of the other colonists against you..."

"There is no one around us, Fati Ba, we can do as we please..." Lucrezia reasoned.

"This place is a small outpost; no matter the distance between you and your neighbors word of such things will travel and make problems for you—and for us; it is a shame that your kindnesses to us must not be so open, for we all appreciate being in your family's service, you are such kind masters—"

"Do not call me 'master', my darling woman—"

"But you are, _La Doña_ , and we must not bring ill attention to ourselves, none of us."

_Oh, if only you knew my truth, Fati Ba. But what does any of it matter, now? The way that things are going with my brother it seems that we shall never touch again—inappropriately or otherwise._

_He is jealous but he should know me better. Don Cortez does not tempt me that way in the least, but he is a willing host and a way to meet the others here, which we inevitably must do. I don't have Dorotea any longer; the children must be given over to bedtime—what am I to do with my nights? Listen to his pleasure with Micheletto? I had enough of such nonsense with Alphonso. No; apparently there is a social season, even here, and I shall allow myself to enjoy it, damn them both._

" _La Doña_?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Fati Ba, excuse me, there is so much on my mind. If it would ease you to take the quarters then so be it—but I would have you here should any of you change your minds, damn the other colonists, do you understand?"

"I do, _La Doña_." Fati Ba smiled her appreciation and relief at Lucrezia then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The evening meal was a simple affair; Fati Ba and Lucrezia had prepared a hearty and delicious cassava soup; rice pilaf made with raisins and coconut milk accompanied the meal. A fine Gouais blanc favored by Cesare and brought from Italy not only complimented the dinner but also served to take a bit of the edge off of the Ramirez family's frayed nerves, Don Cortez noticed.

"Well, gentleman—it has been a long day and I'm sure you've business to discuss; I shall leave you now to look in on my sleeping boys one last time and then retire, myself. Thank you, Don Cortez, for everything."

"It has been my sincere pleasure, _La Doña_ , be assured."

"Will you be with us tomorrow night? Fati Ba has given me the happy news that some of the men will return to the river to catch trout for dinner—I am looking most-forward to that, myself."

"Oh, no, but thank you for the offer; I shall take your cousins on the tour of the mountain and then go—one of my men is camped back at the mouth of the river looking after my horse and awaiting my return, you see..."

An inward sigh of relief from Cesare as he savored a large gulp of wine.

"And besides, I have a ball to make preparations for," Don Cortez' eyes twinkled at her.

An inward groan from Cesare as he set his goblet down loudly upon the table. "Sleep well, cousin; please give a kiss on the forehead from me to our sleeping boys, hmm?"

_Imagine that...he is almost civil; because he speaks with genuine love for the children; he even deigns to look at me. Well, then._ "Yes, goodnight, cousin...Miguel...Don Cortez," Lucrezia gave each man her sweet nod of farewell; Don Cortez rose up quickly from his chair to help Lucrezia out of hers.

"May I be so honored?" he asked as he gave a small bow of his head at her.

Lucrezia looked at her sullen brother and his wary lover and gave them a little smirk, which turned quickly to a sweet smile when she looked back upon the Don. She slipped easily back into the courtly, coquettish self of her past, for the Don reminded her of the many suitors that had come to Vatican seeking her hand once upon a time, and it was a lovely feeling to feel again. "You may...Don Cortez," she beamed at him as she held out her hand.

As Cortez gave a chaste kiss to the back of it, Lucrezia suddenly came back to herself and her reality; she was not that girl any longer; her hand was no longer smooth and white, but accustomed then to toiling in the kitchen as well as the garden; she was a lady of leisure no longer, and her hands told that sorry tale; she yanked her hand away before the Don was ready to let it go.

"I'm sorry, I am over-tired and not myself; goodnight, dear Don, I'm sure that I shall see you in the morning." Lucrezia rushed away from them all then, desperate to get away before tears spilled out of her eyes in front of them.

Cesare and Micheletto were both at attention in their seats, worried after her and unable to hide it.

"She is a lovely creature; it is an adjustment, being here, especially for those of us who come from more—civilized—environs; fill this place with more slaves to do her bidding, so that she will feel more comfortable in her old skin again, my friends, that is the way here, I assure you," Don Cortez told the two men as he turned back to face them. His words and compassionate smile were no comfort to either man, in fact, only served to anger them more that he was so obtuse and arrogant.

There was no doubt that Lucrezia was honestly missing her old life, but it was not his place to call attention to it.

"And I will say goodnight, as well, Don Cortez, for my cousin is right—it has been a long day." Cesare's words were clipped and curt, but it was the best that he could manage before he left the table and then the room.

"I'm sorry, did I offend?" Cortez asked Micheletto sincerely.

"Long day, and all," Micheletto grunted at him before he took another sip of wine.

"Well, I suppose you are off to bed, as well?"

Micheletto set his goblet down slowly and deliberately, then looked pointedly up at the man. "No. I am wide awake."

The challenge in the man's voice was quite disconcerting to Don Cortez and all he wanted was to be away from him. "Yes, well, I shall call it a day, as well. In the morning, Don Ramirez."

Micheletto said nothing as he glared at the man and raised his goblet in salute; with that Don Cortez made his haste away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sis?" his careful whisper was full of sadness as it came at her in the darkness; she was glad that he couldn't see her tear-streaked face or her eyes, which were certainly puffy and red; she pressed her face further into her pillow.

"I'm alright, Cesare, but I am tired; please go away," came her equally sad and muffled reply.

"I can smell your tears, Lucrezia—please—a moment? Please?"

"Go away, Cesare." It felt so good to hear her own true name and to say his, even if her heart was breaking.

"We must talk, Lucrezia."

"Yes, we must; but tonight is not the night for it, not with a house full of people and Don Cortez about."

"I know that, but we can't go on like this; as soon as he is gone you must agree to find a private moment for me—and Micheletto."

"It appears so, brother."

"Lucrezia...I miss you...I miss us; you let that man touch you with his vile lips; his blatant desire is an affront, surely you know this."

"I don't desire an argument, now, brother."

"Nor do I; but if I can't feel you within my arms...if I must go another night without even that, which would make my entire soul happy—can you find it in your heart to give me even a little of your love?"

"Oh, Cesare!" Lucrezia shot up from under her covers and flung her arms desperately about her brother. "I miss us, as well, but what am I to do? You have been so angry at me..."

"And you, at me! What was that today? There on the path?"

"I can ask you the same."

"All that I have wanted is to clear up this misunderstanding; and now here we are, still without the privacy we truly need in order to talk."

"And what is there to be said, brother? Except that I am so confused..."

"Confused?"

"Yes! I have tried to be... to be... accommodating about this situation, but you continue to be at me; and now Micheletto—"

"Micheletto? Micheletto, what?"

"Has made himself known to me, brother; has confirmed what you told me—that he desires me."

"He has? When?"

"Today; in the canoe; he has been nothing but sweet to me—sweeter than you have been! How could you think that I want to be made love to by Don Cortez?" Her sad tone had turned to one of insult and then anger as she pushed her brother away from her.

"What?" It was Cesare's turn to be confused.

"Those are ears on your head there, brother, even in the dark I can see them."

"You flirted brazenly with that man for the whole of the day—" Cesare accused her, the anger rising up in his own voice in the darkness.

"I did not."

"And what about Micheletto?"

"He desires me, as you said; I don't understand either one of you."

"Then understand this..."

"No, Cesare, not like this..."

Lucrezia's continued rejection stung Cesare in his heart. "What is it? Don't you love me anymore?"

"I do, of course I do; but I have been trying to come to terms with my own feelings about all of this and it frightens me."

"You have nothing to fear from us, Sis."

"I know that—the fear is not...it is myself, that I fear, brother."

"What?"

"That I do want you both...and what kind of woman that would make me."

"You...you do? Want us both?"

"If I told you to go and bring Micheletto here to me—to us—at this moment, would you, brother?'

"Wh-what? Now?"

"Yes...now. Would you?"

"Now?"

"Yes! Now! It appears to be the demon that we must exorcise, brother."

"Now?"

"You have done nothing but make your displeasure—and in equal turn, your desire—known to me, these past months; complained to me about the lack of affection from me; told me that you and Micheletto both have abstained, even from each other; I want you, always, Cesare, even when I want to bash you upon your head; and now these new feelings have erupted within me; I think of you and feel as if I am being unfaithful to him; I think of him and feel as if I am being unfaithful you! I can't stand it any longer, for I have gone without, as well! There's no time for talking, anymore—if this is a thing that can be done, if it is possible that such an arrangement between us will work—I must know! I must know, brother..."

Lucrezia's voice had dropped to a sultry whisper, for she had worked herself and her desire up into a little frenzy; as did the the proximity of his fully-dressed body next to hers, naked under her thin chemise, her nipples grazing against the ruffles of his shirt, and her knowledge of the smooth, muscled skin beneath it; and the idea of the three of them, and that they would be easily accommodated upon her huge new bed.

"But...we...need to talk..." Cesare began awkwardly, alarmed at the intensity of her burgeoning desire and her hands, one pawing gently at his shirt in the effort to remove it, as the other bared a breast for him to feast upon.

"No more talking, brother; go and get him, I shall try and wrest myself away from you..." she moaned at him, doing exactly the opposite as she began to smother him with sweet, feathery kisses.

"What...happened in the canoe today?"

He barely managed to get the question out, for her kisses were traveling quickly downward to where her hands were then trying to free the hungry beast waiting for her in his breeches.

"The canoe? He comforted me...oh...yes..." she moaned at him between her kisses, which were becoming more savage by the second, "...in your stead...uhh...there you are..." she gasped her ecstasy at him as her hands found and freed her prize, "...he made me feel...quite loved..."

There were no more words then; she dove into him and he felt himself disappear inside of her exquisite mouth.

"Uhh...yes...Lucrezia...oh...my love..." Cesare sank further and gloriously under her spell, his heart soaring at being welcomed home again.

Finally and reluctantly, she released him, then looked up into his eyes "Go and get Micheletto, Cesare...I want to see you both... together...I want to feel what it will be like to be a part of you both...and then all of us...together...hurry, my love..."


	7. Where Sorrow Does Not Bind Us

The hour was still early; Lucrezia had excused herself and retired much earlier than she and Cesare were accustomed to; as such Micheletto was still sitting at the dining table, finishing the last of the wine from dinner and about to get up and go get another, when Cesare sailed into the room and slid into a seat nearest his friend with such a sense of urgency that he almost toppled off of it.

"What's this?" Micheletto grunted at him as Cesare's eyes bore wildly into his own.

Cesare gave a good glance about every corner of the rooms surrounding them, checking for anyone who might be lurking therein, before he leaned conspiratorially into his alarmed friend and spoke again.

"What happened in the canoe today, brother?" The words issued at Micheletto in a hushed, almost angry rush.

"What?"

"The canoe...today...with Lucrezia."

Micheletto's mind went to the absolute worst thoughts that he could imagine; had she felt shame? Guilt? Had she caught a delayed case of disgust at the very idea of him? Had her recrimination sent her brother angrily to him then, seeking retribution? Micheletto braced himself. "Is there a complaint?"

"A complaint? Ha!" came Cesare's ironic guffaw at him. "What happened?" he demanded again.

"You were otherwise engaged, she was frightened—I comforted her; we have had several conversations about the state of affairs between us all, of late—I dared to admit my truest feelings for her; I kissed her hand and left I it that. I thought that I had been a comfort to her, which appeared to be the case at the time. Apparently I was wrong."

An incredulous guffaw from Cesare then. "Come with me—" He rose up from his chair and took Micheletto roughly by an arm.

"She's reported me to you, I assume, and you are, neither one of you, pleased." Micheletto's statement was an grim accusation.

"I am confounded, brother."

"Watch it, there, Cesare—I thought you wanted this—" Micheletto hissed, bristling at Cesare's brusque hand which was suddenly upon him; somehow he managed to hold his temper.

_She's upset; you are faced with the truest consequence of what it means to engineer a fantasy to reality—and it's too much, apparently for either of you to go through with. Why don't you just say so, Cesare?_

Cesare kept hold of Micheletto and pulled him along the way to the second floor, still keeping a watchful eye out for any wayward witnesses to their little confrontation or their intended rendezvous.

"You have been _summoned, brother,_ " Cesare informed him quietly as they rushed along.

"What?"

"Whatever else happened, or didn't, Micheletto, has sent our Lady into a frenzy of desire, it seems."

"What?" Micheletto was truly dumbfounded.

At that point they were at the door of the bedroom Lucrezia had chosen for herself; Cesare pushed his friend roughly against it and pinned him there, in a manner as seductive as it was menacing.

"She desires to know, Micheletto, this night, right now, what it will be like—with the both of us."

Micheletto could not believe that he had heard Cesare's words correctly. "What? Now?"

Cesare rolled his eyes hard up into his head then as a definite and quite disconcerting little smile broke out upon his face. _My words exactly_... he assured his friend silently as he grabbed Micheletto by the collar of his shirt with one hand, opened the door with the other and pushed the bewildered man into Lucrezia's room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Gentlemen." Lucrezia greeted the two men quietly.

Upon her face was a smile of intrigue as she sat up on her side of the bed where Cesare had left her, naked under the cover. Looking luminous in the glowing candlelight she eyed her two charges, regarding them both very carefully. The curious mix of anger and excitement on her brother's face at her, for some reason, gave her sinful pleasure.

_And so, he is a little jealous, I see it; he is amazed; eager—unbelieving that I could do such a thing and that such a thing is happening, yet wanting it with his whole selfish heart. Yes, he is jealous; and a little worried, too. Good. I think. But what do I know? Especially of such things as this? I have seen Alphonso at his worst against me, entertaining three whores at a time; a point he needed to make to me after Lucia left him. But it was just fucking; soulless; their abilities impressive enough to me, at that most-jaded and detached point in my life, to where I remember wishing that I had laurel wreaths to bestow upon them all when it was done. Yes, it was soulless; without any love or even true passion. And still there was competition between the whores over him._

_Is it better that way, then? But I love them. Both. Differently. And maybe not so. Micheletto knows passion; feels it—he expressed it quite well to me. Look at him—I must not laugh now, but he is adorable standing there looking so thunderstruck—and eager, as well. My heart swells in a completely other way for him and I want to know him. He has a way about himself that makes me go all wet just thinking of it; of his sweet, slow seduction over these last hungry months; the idea that such a handsome, stealthy, quiet and devastating assassin has a place in his heart for me._

_And, so now, here they are; will there be a competition? Will I be surprised by the answer? Hurt? Will they? Can this all end any possible way other than badly?_

"Lucrezia?" It was Cesare calling softly to her. "We don't...this isn't..."

Ever able to read Cesare's thoughts, and so much more easily in that instant, Micheletto grunted the completion of Cesare's concern at her next. "He is right, little sister, if you don't—"

"But I do," Lucrezia cut him off with a sweet smile at them both; she pulled the cover slowly down to reveal her exquisite alabaster body and moved to the middle of the bed, the silent invitation apparent to both men.

"Uh..." Cesare was unable to stammer another word as he looked nervously over at Micheletto, who duly ignored him, lost in his own endeavor to try and pull himself together.

_Do we undress? Join her naked, together? She is waiting for us, now; why do I know not what to do? Why won't my feet move? That is my sister; my love; my Lucrezia; I should be taking command of this situation! Shouldn't I? Is it supposed to be this difficult?"_

Micheletto answered one question for himself and Cesare both at that moment as he walked slowly over to the bed and took his place upon it at Lucrezia's left side; she took one his hands into her own, then turned to Cesare and held her other out to him.

"Cesare?"

"Oh...uh..." he gave them both a sheepish smile and joined her at her other side upon the bed.

"That was awkward, I think," Lucrezia joked them both as she held their hands but looked down at her own lap with a skittish little smile upon her face.

Cesare chuckled lightly as Micheletto let out an amused grunt at her honest observation.

"That's better—you are at ease, brother," Lucrezia kissed the back of his hand, then turned to Micheletto and kissed the back of his. "And I have garnered that which is most-elusive, where you are concerned, dear Micheletto...your smile."

"Is that what passes for a smile these days?" Cesare joked them both, to which Lucrezia gave him a playful, but reprimanding tweak to his nose.

Micheletto endured Cesare's ribbing about the almost unchanged look on his face, which only hinted at a smile. "Contrary to popular belief, Lucrezia, that you have," Micheletto concurred; he raised himself up a bit to free enough of the sheet to cover her back up with; he looked over at Cesare, who clearly appreciated his thoughtful gesture, and then back into her eyes. "Point taken, little sister."

"What point is that, Micheletto? Do you think that I have changed my mind? I haven't." She turned and looked her confirmation at Cesare, as well. "It is time to clear some things up, brothers..."

Lucrezia slid down into the bed and turned her back to Cesare, then pulled him close to her as she guided his hand to fondle her bare breast under the sheet; Cesare settled her against himself properly and cradled her in the crook of his arm; she turned back to Micheletto and put an arm about his waist, forcing him to cuddle close to her, as well. Again, both men looked at each other, happy to be holding her, yet unsure of the next step to be taken.

"We've had a few discussions, Cesare, Micheletto and I," Lucrezia began as she looked over her shoulder at her brother, daring herself to concentrate on her words instead the warm, lovely tingliness between her thighs being induced by his pinch to her nipple.

"Have you?" Cesare smiled down at her. "And what did you discuss?"

"Kiss me first, brother."

Cesare gave an uncomfortable look at Micheletto but followed her command easily.

"You, of course," she said when their lips parted; she gave a quick, impish look back at Micheletto to find his smile, which was more of a knowing smirk, directed at them both.

"When have you thought of me, Micheletto? And what did you possibly feel for me?" Lucrezia guided his hand in hers to her other breast.

"Ah...so we go right into it, then?"

"Yes, Micheletto," Lucrezia smiled broadly at him, her tongue in her cheek, "as you always do with me. Do you like that?"

Micheletto glanced at Cesare before he answered her, and found that Cesare appeared as eager for his reply as Lucrezia was.

"I do."

"I do, as well. And so you felt for me?" Lucrezia prodded him through a swoon, going with her salacious little moment as she strongly contemplated suggesting that they all cease and desist from using any further words, at all.

"I felt grateful that I had secured your trust...and I loved you for it."

Micheletto's revelation was simple yet profound and it sobered Cesare and Lucrezia both; he stopped fondling her breast and instead, let it rest lightly upon it.

"When...when was this?" Lucrezia asked, suddenly unable to look at him; above her, Micheletto could see that he had Cesare's full attention, as well.

"The first time...when the Tigress organized the plot to kill you all at your mother's palazzo. Cesare and I put all of the assassins down and we found you; you handed Giovanni to me...as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It is an honor to be trusted by a child—even more so to be trusted _with_ a child. I held him up, reveling in the wonder of him; the horror of what could have happened...your mother saw the darkness in me—for I was thinking, at the moment she took him away from me, with sure fear in her eyes directed at me...of the murderous spree I would have lost myself in, had even one hair on any of your heads been harmed." Micheletto took his hand away from her breast and put a finger to her chin, and turned it up for her eyes to meet his own to bear the full weight of his words; when he was satisfied that she understood him he looked into the eyes of his friend and lover.

"I do remember that..." Lucrezia smiled beneath them, amazed that such a horrible memory could be tempered by anything at all, even a happy a revelation.

"Joy where you dare to find it," Cesare murmured at Micheletto through the knowing smile forming on his own face.

"What?" asked Lucrezia.

"I'll explain later, my love," Cesare smiled down at his sister then.

"That moment, Micheletto? Has brought us to this..." Lucrezia's muse was a wistful one.

"And another. In Venice, when I brought Rodrigo to your bosom at Lady Caracciolo's palazzo...and the babe would not be comforted by you. I wanted to comfort you. And again, when I came to spirit him back to Bari. I wanted to do more than plant a bereft and brotherly kiss atop your head. I wanted to hold you; stay with you...at least, until your own tears abated; the ones that you so bravely held at bay for the few moments that I had to be with you."

That revelation left Lucrezia speechless.

"In that moment, Lucrezia, you loved me; you said so. And I loved you more than any woman I've ever dared to, that was not my mother; in a manner...that surprised me—and also, did not. I would have to say, in this moment, as well, together as we are, for once, where sorrow does not bind us."

 _But doesn't it? And has this really been my life? So much sorrow...that has now brought us to this foreign place..._ Lucrezia began to lose herself in the memory and then the incredible fact that her brother had kept his promise and reunited her with Rodrigo; that it wasn't her particular sorrow any longer.

"Lucrezia—"

Still she was speechless, and was only able to nod her attention at Micheletto.

"Lucrezia..." It was Cesare, then, trying to bring her out of their sad past and back to himself and Micheletto in their present.

"But...I...you..." she stammered at Micheletto, shocked at the depth of desire radiating at her from his magnificent azure eyes. "Even as I lay here, basking in this sure love from you both and between the three of us...you and Cesare—" she looked at Cesare then, unable to form the words that expressed all of the conflicting emotions that she still felt about the three of them.

"Have been in torment these past months," Micheletto finished for her. "Do you think that we've been...able to enjoy each other under such a circumstance? The shock of you finding out about us—it's still there on your face; you are still trying to understand and that understanding actually evades you, even as we all lay here together. But understand this, Lucrezia: neither of us could do such a thing; would not endeavor to lock you out of our hearts; such a thing is not possible; nor would we behave in such a way as to be locked out of yours; it has been like the days of old between Cesare and me, Lucrezia. Even the idea of having our pleasure at the expense of your heartbreak—we have not done it—not in Santo Domingo. And we had not planned to do so here. All of this freedom to live as we choose to—"

"And still we did not, Sis; would never," Cesare finished for Micheletto.

"You haven't...in all of this time?" She asked of Cesare. "Since you came from Italy?" she asked of Micheletto.

"We have not. We've spent our time together, in our long, private moments when work was no more and sleep evaded us—pining. For you." Micheletto gave a kiss to her forehead.

"But..."

"Our kiss that you witnessed from the stairs that night—was our last."

"What?" from Cesare, for it was the first he'd heard of it.

"She saw us that night, Cesare, my first night in Santo Domingo," Micheletto told him.

"And so you thought—oh, Sis...I'm so sorry..."

"And so we have all been deprived...and I am right to want this—to want you both." She looked to both men who each nodded their confirmation at her in their turn.

"Yes, Lucrezia—I think that you can see, by now...we both want you...that we want to give you your pleasure; together; that we would like for you to do us the honor—of being ours..." said Micheletto as he nuzzled her neck and planted his first sensual kiss upon her there.

"And for you to allow us the honor of being yours," Cesare said then as he turned her face so that her lips could meet his.


	8. Where Angels Reside

Cesare's kisses were as sweet as ever, and hungry, as well; each kiss upon Lucrezia's beauteous body was infused with a certain reticence as he searched her eyes for even a hint of discomfort or the desire to stop—hard to do as Lucrezia kept them squeezed tight through her little mewlings of ecstasy.

Cesare and Micheletto were both more than gentle with her; where Cesare's kisses were familiar and easy for him, Micheletto's were reverent and halting—to begin with. With the guidance and grasp of Lucrezia's yearning hands upon him, Micheletto's raw and savage passions were slowly loosed upon her and his inhibitions melted away; both men then began the feverish endeavor of freeing themselves from their clothing in order to marry their own exquisite nakedness with Lucrezia's.

Lucrezia's own anticipation of the unknown territory they were all about to embark upon blotted out those actual moments and melded into the one where they were all finally skin to skin underneath her modest cotton sheets, well-suited to the climate of their new tropical home. Behind her Cesare had grown hard and ready and she felt the sensual nudge of his hips against her before he slid down to seek out and claim her fully; before her, Micheletto's kisses had traveled to the alabaster valley between her wondrous breasts as his outer leg drew up to caress her own hips and take loving possession of her.

The combined and insistent attentions of her two men became overwhelming; as if she was a woman drowning in a vast and churning sea, Lucrezia struggled to find her breath, and came up from between them, gasping for air and necessary deliverance; Micheletto loosened his grip upon her immediately, alarmed and worried that the poor girl was too traumatized to go on; Cesare, only seconds away from going to the truest home he ever knew, groaned his disappointment as she escaped his reach.

"Lucrezia, I'm sorry...you do not want this..." Micheletto apologized immediately.

"Lucrezia?" It was Cesare's concern that issued softly at her next.

"I'm sorry...this pleasure...I have no words for it...I do not think that I am capable of surviving more, my loves..."

"Shall I take it to mean that you would like to, my love?" From Cesare, before he gave a sweet kiss to her shoulder, afraid deep down that was not actually the case, and secretly resigning himself to it as he tried not look crestfallen.

"Or that you would like for us to stop?" From Micheletto, who had already resigned himself to the obvious, as well.

"Micheletto...you said that the kiss between you and Cesare in Santo Domingo was your last—did you mean forever?" Lucrezia asked him sheepishly as she busied herself with sitting up between them and covering her nakedness with her portion of the sheet.

Accustomed by then to both of the siblings' penchant for the abrupt change in conversation, Micheletto followed her easily. "No. I meant only that it was the last time that we kissed in all of these months. I do not, at all, wish for that to remain the case, however."

Lucrezia looked up to meet his amused gaze and found Micheletto's version of a smile directed at her. "Nor is that my wish, dear Micheletto."

Two sets of raised eyebrows issued forth at her.

"I think to help calm my nerves...I would like to see you both kiss again; it stirred something in me before, something I'm almost ashamed to admit..."

"Desire...perhaps?"

"Yes, Micheletto, now that I think about it," she smiled coyly at him, "...desire. Certainly."

Cesare smiled his happy intrigue at her as he slid a little beneath her again and came in for a teasing kiss to the outer swell of her breast through the thin sheet. "And why..." he murmured at her as he traced a tantalizing hint of a caress against her erect nipple, "...would you be ashamed of that, Sis?"

"I...I don't know, Cesare..." she began in a swoon, "...but I am not ashamed now...ahh...to admit that I would like to feel such affectation again," she gasped at him.

Micheletto took one of her hands into his own and gave her palm a sweet kiss. "And we would be happy to oblige you, Lucrezia."

Lucrezia watched the languid, sensual force that was Micheletto as he took Cesare gently by his chin and guided him away from her, by then, exposed and heaving breast. Micheletto pulled Cesare up to sitting across from himself over her and it was breathtaking to see them together again, her delectably handsome brother and her equally handsome red-headed assassin. She watched the sweet meeting of their lips as they hovered over her and felt like a pupil studying a glorious new subject; their exchange was as playful as it was rough; their full, savage kiss, and ensuing passionate groans of joy and release, indeed, had the captivating effect that she remembered and made her hunger for them both anew. Drawn to the heat of their passion she dared to reach a tentative hand out toward them but drew it back, as if sure fire would scorch her fingertips if she tried to touch them; she decided, instead, to travel her hand down upon her own breast and then even more sinfully downward; just as she was about to reach her target she felt Micheletto take rough hold of her delicate little wrist.

"Did you think that we had forgotten you, lovely Golden One?" Micheletto murmured at her as Cesare took hold of her other hand; both men then drew the speechless and completely mesmerized woman closer to them.

And so Lucrezia sank further into the abyss...and into the depths of pleasure she'd never had any notions of, or could then imagine dared to exist on any plane where angels did not reside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Long before sunrise, spent and drenched in each other, they lay snuggled together; it had been far from a night for sleep—or complete exhaustion.

"You must ride with Don Cortez soon, Cesare; you must make your stealthy way away from my room soon—both of you," Lucrezia lamented at them.

"And we will, Sis..."

"But not quite yet, hmm?" Micheletto finished for Cesare.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somehow the men had managed to do just that and tore themselves away from her; there was the promise of truer privacy when Cortez and his party were finally gone and their own servants were established in their quarters; then there would be dinner to get through and the children to put to bed; and then another night—a fuller one—of Heaven on Earth. It was going to be a long day.

Micheletto easily hid his euphoria behind his usual mask of stoic and forbidding regard; Lucrezia hid hers by keeping herself out of sight until Cesare departed with Don Cortez to the mountains. For Cesare it was a bit more difficult that early morning, for his thoughts were filled completely with the night before and the pleasures that he desired to revisit. As much as he could manage he kept himself contained, but even Don Cortez took note of his lighter step and brighter demeanor.

"And so, you _do_ smile, Don Ramirez! So happy to see proof of it!" Cortez remarked jovially when they met in the kitchen for a bit of breakfast.

"There is much to be said for a night of proper rest, Don Cortez, yes?" Cesare replied as he reigned himself in.

"And where are your cousins? The lovely Doña Giovanna? And Don Miguel? Will he join us on the ride to the mountains?"

"He will. Giovanna is busy with the children, at present."

"I'm sorry to have missed her. Well then, are you ready to go, Don Ramirez? I do not mean to rush you..."

"No, I understand, completely. My cousin waits for us. Lead the way..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trio got through their respective day, each of them preoccupied of thought and desire.

Lucrezia busied herself seeing to the quarters for her servants, and was happy to find that snakes had not taken over the place, as was her deepest, darkest fear. The buildings were in wonderful repair, overall, and it would be her endeavor to make them as lovely as her lady would permit.

Fati Ba was moved beyond words as she watched her Lady move about excitedly, voicing her plans to sew curtains for the windows and have better mattresses bought from the harbor merchants. The men were also pleased to know that their masters intended for them to follow the true _encomenderos_ system, which entitled only certain days of labor from the native _Taíno_ , and would apply to them, as well, for they had only ever been accustomed to just the Sabbath day off under other masters.

Cesare and Micheletto managed to finally immerse themselves in the business at hand, and of all that it would take to run a successful lumber mill. The prospect truly seemed to be daunting, as laid out truthfully by Don Cortez; they both hid their trepidations from him and were happy to finally conclude the tour and see him away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I am sorry now that I did not honor the invitation to dinner for this evening—the smell coming from the kitchen is truly divine, my friends," Don Cortez smiled at his companions as he gave a robust pat to his taut belly.

Knowing that the man was hedging for a new invitation, both Cesare and Micheletto kept their mouths clamped shut. As if on cue and because Fati Ba had alerted her that the men had returned, Lucrezia appeared in the great room to greet them and see Cortez off. It was the first time she had set eyes back upon her two men all day, but she trusted herself to quell her joy long enough to say goodbye to the Don.

"Don Cortez! Cousins! I hope that all went well?"

"Why, yes, _La Doña_ , your cousins have been apprised of all that they need to know in order to assess the truest aspects of running a lumber mill here—not an impossible endeavor, only a challenging one."

"Certainly not for the lack of lumber," Lucrezia muttered as she looked off into the distance towards the densely-forested mountains, and wondered how feasible it might or might not be to go ahead with such an enterprise; they would need more hands; more equipment, surely, and God only knew what else.

"I'm sorry, _La Doña_ , what was that?"

"Thank you for all of your assistance, Don Cortez; I know I speak for my cousins when I say that it has all been most appreciated."

"Ah! My pleasure! I was just complimenting the smell wafting from the kitchen—your men made it to the river, yes?"

"Yes, they did."

"And your man must anxiously be awaiting deliverance from another night out in the elements; surely your departure now would put you back on familiar roads and home before nightfall, hmm?" From Cesare, doing well to mask his impatience.

"Yes...I suppose that you are correct, my friend," Cortez begrudgingly acknowledged.

"But you will come back, Don Cortez, when you may stay for a proper feast of celebration and have the time to enjoy it."

"I look forward to it, _La Doña_ ; until then I wish you all well—and you shall be hearing from me again soon with an invitation to a ball in your family's honor." He gave a bow at her.

"And we look most-forward to it, Don Cortez," Lucrezia gave a little curtsy at him in return.

"Gentlemen," he looked to Micheletto and Cesare then.

"Don Cortez. Safe travels. And thank you. Again." From Cesare's tight lips and through a forced smile.

Micheletto only nodded at the man, which finally sent him on his way to his men, assembled and waiting for him at the path leading away. The trio walked him out together and watched him advance away; Cortez gave a final wave at them from where he met his party and then the man disappeared, at last, from the their sight.

"Dinner, my loves..." Cesare said under the wicked lift of an eyebrow aimed, first at Micheletto, "...and then—" he turned to his sister and inflicted the sultry same at her, "—to bed."


	9. A Most Harmonic Convergence

Lucrezia was awakened by the sinful gloriousness of her two loves fondling her breasts as they knelt beside her on the bed, forming an arch of passion over as they kissed each other.

"Ah, Micheletto..." Cesare gave a lustful smirk at his friend when their lips parted; he then motioned Micheletto to follow his gaze down upon the swooning woman under their joint and loving control, "...mission accomplished—our lovely one has awakened, at last...good morning, my love..."

Micheletto's look upon her seemed stern, but by that point in time Lucrezia had learned to read the many nuances of his facial expressions well, as slight as they often were to the untrained eye. His good morning to her issued forth through a soulful little grunt and one raised eyebrow at her as he released her nipple from the teasing attention of his thumb and forefinger; he gave her captive breast a tender massage, then, before he trailed his hand lightly up and across her shoulder, and then traced the back one finger along her sweet collar bone...then the velvety length of her neck...up her chin and onward to her luscious little mouth, parted slightly in a swoon and waiting to receive him.

"Yes, my loves...very good morning," she gasped at them both after she stopped Micheletto's probing finger with a welcoming kiss upon its tip. "You shall both spoil me..."

"You do not think, for even a moment, that we do not expect for you to return the favor? Hmm, little sister?" Micheletto grunted his question as he cocked his head at her; across from him Cesare gave a lusty guffaw of agreement and his eager smile ended with a sultry bite of his bottom lip.

"Oh, no, my loves...not for a moment..." Lucrezia said as she rose up slowly between them, sliding a sensuous hand upon each man, and up into the tendrils of hair at the napes of their necks, which she then grabbed firm handfuls of. "Not for a moment..." she said through a whisper, as her bright blue eyes sparkled at them each in turn. She gave Micheletto her tender kiss and then the same to her waiting brother before she gently guided their lips back upon each other; she them pushed then, just as gently, down upon the bed. Lucrezia slid slowly down and disappeared below them, then, intent on spoiling them by exploring the limits, if any, of their endurance—and her own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three lovers had concluded their latest round of lovemaking and found that there was still left to them the luxury of time: time to relish their privacy; time to enjoy their respite as they lay in each others embrace; time to revisit the glory of their desires before the sun rose in the morning sky and would call them away to their obligations of the coming day.

For her part, Lucrezia found the feeling of lying nestled between Cesare and Micheletto to be gloriously and sinfully addictive; her two loves; her brother and her assassin—for that was her private nickname for Micheletto, who had made good on his promise to murder her in a manner more exquisite than she could coherently put true words to.

Yet, while she was often, literally, the center of their attention, Lucrezia found herself living in another world, entirely, being ministered by—and ministering to—two men who loved her and who loved each other, as well; it was a world that she had been so preciously introduced to, and knew that she could never give up. The realization that Cesare's intent had not been as selfish, as she first and wrongly imagined, hit her profoundly, at that moment, and she was suddenly overcome with her infinite love for them both.

Micheletto felt her tears upon his chest first and rose up from her in alarm.

"She cries, brother," Micheletto alerted Cesare as he made to investigate Lucrezia's upset.

"Lucrezia? Lucrezia?" Cesare rose up in equal alarm as he took her into his sole embrace. "Sis?"

"I...I am alright, my loves—these are tears of happiness and I am simply overcome by you both, that your intent and desires are true—so hard for me to imagine, still, that such a development between us...between us..."

"What, my love?"

"There are no hurt hearts, here, my loves...I pray that it will always remain thus..." Lucrezia managed before she broke down completely within her brother's arms.

Cesare looked at Micheletto with a sad little smile, happy that his sister understood them both but not that she was so affected; he eased her back between them as Micheletto put his own arm back around her.

"I'm alright, really."

"And we understand, little sister, but do not fear—it is our vow to you, ever and always."

Lucrezia was only able to answer Micheletto with her sniffles as she tried to get a hold of herself. Facing her brother at that moment she gave him an apologetic kiss, and then turned to kiss Micheletto. "I am sorry, my loves; I do not mean to make such a beauteous moment so sad."

"You are loved, Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia," Micheletto responded softly as he looked at them both; Lucrezia turned to him fully and hugged him tighter.

Some time later, still basking in the afterglow of their shared love, Lucrezia dared to venture a quiet question.

"Micheletto?"

"Yes, Lucrezia?"

"I do not want to be indelicate...but...these scars upon your chest and back—it was the rack that did this you?"

Micheletto gazed over at Cesare, who blushed back at him; Lucrezia followed his strangely amused gaze and looked at her brother, more than baffled at their responses.

"Cesare? You smile? What on God's Earth—"

"Not all of these, little sister, were the cause of that particular torture session," Micheletto began through a little smirk upon his face.

"What? You mean, there were others?"

"Many."

"You know that you have intrigued me—who else ever laid such a vile hand upon you? Surely, it was in battle, then?"

"A battle of sorts, yes." Another knowing look shot quickly at his partner in all crimes. "Every scar tells a story, Lucrezia; not all that I wish to relay at the moment—except that ones that were inflicted...with love."

"With love?" Lucrezia was completely aghast. "There is such a distinction between them?"

"Yes, lovely Golden One, and I know the differences between each and every one."

"With love," Lucrezia muttered her confusion at herself, undone by the thought of such an implication.

"Yes, Sis—and by my hand...long ago."

Lucrezia's head whipped around at her brother. "By you, Cesare?"

And so there, in that early, quiet morning, Micheletto and Cesare related the story of one of Micheletto's early and most major demonstrations of his loyalty to Cesare—working as a double agent against his first master, Giuliano della Rovere; and of the lashes Cesare had given the assassin to prove to della Rovere that Micheletto had still been on task and that the Borgia were ever their most-hated and common enemy.

"Cesare! How could you?"

"Do not despair, little sister—I quite enjoyed it."

"Micheletto!"

Both men were laughing lightly at the memory by then.

"And you, brother? Whatever was going through your mind at the time?" Lucrezia asked him, still scandalized.

Cesare found himself under the scrutiny of two very intrigued pairs of eyes.

"Although I knew nothing of Micheletto's truest feeling for me then...I...enjoyed it, as well," Cesare confirmed with a devilish gleam in his eyes and his tongue in his cheek—and the burgeoning swell of his member upon his lap at the provocative memory.

Lucrezia's eyes went to the impressive evidence of her brother's honest admission, and then felt the evidence of Micheletto's own happy response to it.

"Will this education of mine never end?" Lucrezia moaned as she was taken over again by her two men, who brought her, happily and fully, into their harmonic convergence of limbs and lust.

"Not as long as we have anything to do with it Sis," Cesare assured her before his lips overtook her own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Really, must this Divinity end now?"

Lucrezia looked up at her brother as he dressed himself to away from her bedroom.

Cesare turned to the pair still in the bed and smiled down at them. "You speak sacrilege, Sis, even I know that."

"You believe in no God, Cesare; and we are the Unholy Borgias; I am allowed."

"Nevertheless, let us be mindful of tempting the Fates then, my love."

"So you would kick me out of my own bed," Lucrezia smiled her accusation up at her brother.

"Yes," his grin grew wider at her and he gave a playful tweak to the tip her lovely nose.

"Micheletto? You will allow such a thing?" Lucrezia giggled at her assassin, who had not yet relinquished her from within his own embrace.

Suddenly he was up like a shot and had scooped her up out the bed and slung her unceremoniously over his shoulder; he gave her heavenly naked bottom playful swat. "Unless you desire for me to carry you out into the day thus, little sister..." Micheletto threatened as he carried her toward the door.

"Alright..alright! Put me down!" Lucrezia continued her happy squeals of delight at them both.

Micheletto walked her back and set her gingerly down before her brother, waiting to help her into a robe.

"There, Sis," Cesare smiled at her as he fastened her up. "And now we must leave you, hmm?"

Lucrezia sent each man off with a deep, longing kiss of goodbye. "Good morning, my loves," she smiled after them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so the days and nights went; even better and more privately as Fati Ba and the other servants all settled comfortably into their quarters, leaving the trio to themselves each night after supper. They had settled into a happy routine of entertaining the children until their bedtime, and then entertaining each other all about the huge hacienda as they pleased.

While their home life was one of near perfect idyll, Cesare's toils in the mountains were far from the same; getting his business off to a lucrative start was proving to be difficult, and an endeavor that Cesare was too impatient to suffer through as indicated.

"We should return to farming, then Cesare, yes?"

"Yes and no," Cesare grunted at his friend one evening, on the way home after a disappointing day trying to work the equipment.

"We need more hands, Cesare."

"True. And more equipment. However, I do not desire to spend such funds as are necessary, at this point, in order to do so."

"Then what?"

"I don't know. Let us take it up with Lucrezia, tonight, yes?"

Micheletto nodded his agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the hacienda Lucrezia had received an unexpected guest.

"Don Cortez?" Lucrezia's greeting was a surprised and cautious one as she entered the great room to find her visitor, heralded by Fati Ba.

" _La Doña_ , good evening!"

"What brings you out to us so late in the evening?"

"Oh, please pardon my intrusion, I only come bearing your invitation to your ball, to be held at my own hacienda, three weeks from today." Don Cortez held out a vellum envelope at her.

"Why...thank you," Lucrezia gave a little curtsy at him.

"You do me great honor, _La Doña_ ," he smiled broadly at her.

"Well then, we shall see you in three weeks," Lucrezia said brightly as she made to usher him away.

"Uh...may I be so bold as to seek your permission to stay a while, _La Doña_?"

"But, my cousins are still in the mountains, due back at any moment, but not prepared to host you, as I know that they would like—you understand, of course?" Lucrezia managed to keep her tone bright and hospitable, but his intrusion was not welcomed, especially with only her and her servants alone in the hacienda, many of whom were already preparing to leave for their own quarters. "And it is actually the end of our day, Don Cortez, when we have our last meal and prepare the children for bed—you understand, sure—"

Don Cortez cut her off with his sudden embrace of her and a kiss to her lips. "Ah, _La Doña_ , I am consumed by my thoughts of you!" His words came in a rush at her as he released her, then took her hand and kissed the back of it in apology.

"Don Cortez! This is most inappropriate! I have not given you any cause to behave in such a manner! Please, I am asking you nicely to leave before my cousins come home for you to explain yourself to!"

"Ah, so you do feel something, otherwise you would not wish to keep this little secret between us," he rejoiced at her through his unwavering enthusiasm.

"I should say not, Don Cortez, you have read me wrong, again," Lucrezia replied firmly. "You have minutes, only, to make away from here before I take matters into my own hands..." Lucrezia put her hand under her apron and upon a thin leather belt hidden beneath it, where she was ready to pull a blade from the sheath attached to it.

"And what matters would those be?"

It was Micheletto's undisguised discord that the Don heard being grunted at him from the entrance behind them.

"Ah! Don Miguel!"

"I believe the Lady asked you to be on your way—in the interest of good, neighborly conduct, and the sure value that you must place upon your life, I suggest that you leave and never come back without proper invitation or advanced notification to visit us here."

Don Cortez bristled at Micheletto's obvious threat, but sought to maintain his composure. "I only came to deliver, personally, the invitation to the ball in your family's honor," he haughtily defended himself.

"And has it been delivered?"

"Why...yes—"

Micheletto's hand went boldly to the hilt of his sword. "Thank you. Now. You may go."

 _Well, she is a great beauty, after all; still it is baffling, this over-protectiveness of the woman; certainly this cousin does not have designs on her...and where is the other one? Italians..._ The Don gave an inward and silent harrumph of disgust at the man. "Good evening then; I apologize for my blunder, it shall not happen again, friend. I look forward to hosting you all at the ball." With that the Don made his exit.

"Are you alright, Lucrezia?" Micheletto asked when he rushed over to her side.

"I am, my love; he quite startled me."

"I'm sure."

"Where is Cesare?"

"Taken up with a last-minute problem regarding some equipment—he sent me on ahead, and a good thing—that man would be dead had Cesare witnessed what I did..."

"And yet he lives—why?"

"While I would greatly enjoy murdering him, it would not be the wisest course of action to find ourselves being run away from here, hmm? Believe me when I say that I am most-disappointed to have to consider letting him live, at all."

Lucrezia chuckled her agreement. "Yes, well, Cesare will not be pleased to hear of this."

"He doesn't have to know—for once, Golden One, can you keep a secret to yourself? Can you let this one truth remain unspoken?"

"I cannot live with secrets, Micheletto..." she answered him uneasily.

"To do anything otherwise would mean that our brief respite here would come to an end—you know that I speak the truth. My concern is for you and Cesare, equally."

"But...well, I understand...but..." Lucrezia hedged, still not happy with the idea a keeping a secret from her brother or bearing the weight of such a decision.

"No 'but', my love; I have grown lazy—and spoiled—Lucrezia, living as we have all of this time with no one to murder." Micheletto grunted his reprimand of himself at her. "Give me time to...arrange an accident for the Don? Hmm? Would you like it before the ball, or after? I think that sooner would be better than later, yes? And, when I explain the particulars of the Don's demise to Cesare afterward, he will thank me for handling the situation thus, hmm?"

"What's this? Good evening, Sis," Cesare smiled broadly at his two loves, in deep conversation about some matter or other.

"My love! This was delivered today—" the partial truth from Lucrezia as she went to her brother and handed him the invitation to the ball.

"Oh—and are we going?" Cesare asked after he gave the missive a closer look, his question full of amusement.

"Let us weigh out that answer later, my love—I hear that there was trouble with some of your equipment?" Lucrezia asked, changing the subject deftly.

"Yes, about that—we must discuss some issues with you, Sis, and obtain your valuable input..."

"Well then, wash up, my loves, a hearty meal and your favorite wine awaits you."


End file.
